Kuchar aiming to come of age at British Open

“I’ll maybe look back at the end of my career and be extremely satisfied or disappointed”. “It is extremely important but hard to do”. “It kept me positive, so he did a great job”. “It’s not something I think about”. With the way he’s played this summer, he could totally make a charge in the final 36 holes. Which is giving myself some credit, I got pretty frustrated through the turn there in the middle of tthe round, just hitting it into pot bunker after pot bunker, sqeaking out par somehow. “I never felt like I was out there trying to beat Jordan”, Kuchar said.

19 years after he played in his first major, Ben Hogan finally competed in The Open at Carnoustie in 1953.

Kuchar, the bronze medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, finished the day in second place on four-under after a round of 71.

“It just takes a creative mind and sometimes golf can get a bit boring but I see so many shots out here where it’s fun and keeps me interested and really gets me going”. It was just a matter of time for them. An impressive back-nine birdie run gave him life, but I’m still not convinced he has learned to control his ball flight in bad weather.

He cut a dejected figure after slumping to five over par after six holes on Thursday, but the spring has clearly returned to his step. Now he sits tied for 7th, having shot a 68 on Friday.

“I thought we did a really good job once that horn blew, and it could have been better timing where I could sit back and nearly play the last 8-holes as a new round”.

As for the rustiness, here’s another thing one might choose to envy on a planet full of tortured golf swings and changing golf swings: “I’ve done the same thing [swing-wise] for years, so it shouldn’t take too long to get back into it”. I (and, I think, the entire country of England) would love to see Ian Poulter holler and fist pump his way up the leaderboard to become the first English Champion Golfer of the Year since Sir Nick Faldo 25 years ago. “There’s just so much that goes into it in links golf”. He has done it before, of course, but this time might be a little more daunting.

“Good guess”, Koepka said.

Most of the players are already in the clubhouse or on their way home, and a lot of those are very happy about it. Holes that were hybrid, sand wedge were kind of driver, 4-iron today.

There has been plenty for us all to chew on after two rounds of the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

Padraig Harrington, victor at the venue in 2008, ended one shot outside the cut at six-over. “Unfortunately it’s the first cut I’ve missed this year and I missed it with flair”.

Former victor Todd Hamilton (2004) finished 156th and last, some four shots behind the next player. Bryson DeChambeau also hit into the gorse. In their rarity, Koepka and Spieth have something else in common: Both won last time out.

Spieth’s playing partner Henrik Stenson was struggling to put himself in contention as it emerged that the house he is renting in north-west England this week was broken into on Thursday.

Not since 1930 had an amateur won the Open, when Bobby Jones hoisted aloft the Claret Jug at Hoylake.

“If I was a betting company and I saw my form over the past few weeks, you would say, ‘Yeah, that’s probably a fair enough price, ‘ ” he said.