Holland’s hope misses the cut at soggy Open
Joost Luiten did miss the cut. And the cut came at level par, just as predicted. Holland’s only hope in the Open missed the halfway cut by two strokes. In other words, one less missed putt per round and he would have been playing at the weekend. Think of those two strokes as two measly putts. Probably two tiddlers that defiantly sat on the edge of the hole refusing to drop. So near, and yet so far.
When you hear that Joost finished in a tie for 93rd spot, it sounds like he must have had a couple of horrendous rounds. Well, he didn’t. He shot 74-72. Take a look at his statistics, especially round two …
Driving stats – Fairways hit: 63% (Rnd 1) and 94% (Rnd 2)
Greens in regulation: 83% (both rounds)
Number of putts: 35 (Rnd 1) and 33 (Rnd 2)
No, two strokes isn’t a million miles away. It’s something that a few tweaks of the putter can easily put right. Or a simple frame of mind thing – believing in yourself: “I’m a great putter!” It happens to the best of players, that the putter goes cold.
Bless the BBC
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought that due to the atrocious weather conditions and disruptions that the halfway cut would end of higher than level par. This morning on air Peter Alliss, for 50 years the voice of golf on BBC television, confessed to being surprised, and rather impressed, that an average score of level 4’s, 72 for each round was the final qualifying score. He had expected that the cut might even soar to plus 4.
Indeed, who would ever have thought that play in the second round would eventually be resumed on Saturday evening. And that the wind would die down creating the most perfect of conditions for a summer’s evening of golf on the Old Course. Lucky for some, I guess …
Proost Joost!
Wendy Hoad