Changing fortunes
I spent the afternoon out at #2 yesterday, and it was a wonderful experience. Though in the early rounds it is impossible to follow leaders like you can on TV, you get to see a lot of other smaller story lines play out. I had an especially good time watching players close their rounds in dramatically different ways.
For example, we saw Tommy Armour III finish birdie, birdie to turn a solid round into one of the best of the day at even par 70. And this morning, as of this writing, Armour is even through 11 holes, which could mean a late afternoon tee time on the weekend if he can keep it going. Meanwhile, we saw Brandt Jobe hit a perfect drive on 16 and was standing on the fairway at -4 and clear of the field. Then the wheels started to fall off, with ugly bogeys at 16 and 17. Throw in a +2 start this morning, and Jobe is back to even.
But the biggest changing fortunes stories right now involves Phil Mickelson, who was a pre-tourney favorite of many. After a very solid 69 on Thursday, he has posted a +6, 41 on his first nine this morning with 6 bogeys (scorecard here). The cut line might become an issue if Phil can’t finish his Friday round strong. Leaderboard here.
UPDATE: Not long after I wrote this post, Armour made a double, and Jobe and Mickelson made birdies. I predict no more than a handful of folks in the red by the end of the day, and I am starting to think even par will win the championship.
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