You can’t win. Too tough on Thursday, Castle Stuart was suddenly too easy again yesterday, the course set-up for the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open criticised again for the precise opposite reasons.
Danny Lee, the Korean-born New Zealander, and Italy’s Matteo Manassero – the two youngest winners in European Tour history, although both are almost veterans these days – led out the field for most of the day with South Africa’s Branden Grace, a play-off loser to Phil Mickelson at Castle Stuart in 2013 and heavily backed here.
However as the winds finally died in the late going Sweden’s Alex Noren charged through with a 66 to add to his first day 70 and pinch the lead from the earlier starters. Noren birdied three of his last four holes to come from nowhere to grab the lead at eight-under.
Lee’s had led with his 66 in conditions slightly more manageable than Thursdays, but with the course set up this time with several tee boxes moved up. Many thought the tournament director Mike Stewart had over-compensated for the criticisms of Thursday.
Truly, unless he has the magical gift of hindsight, the modern golf tournament director cuts a beleaguered figure at the best of times. Stewart, a Scot who has years of experience running events, has the thick skin essential for the role.
Padraig Harrington, who perhaps along with yesterday’s playing partner Colin Montgomerie has more experience of links golf than any player in the field, certainly thought so.
“They softened the golf course up a lot today, pushed the tee boxes forward,” said the two-time Open champion, after a 69 to add to his first round 70 had him tucked in two shots off the lead.
“I certainly preferred yesterday. It was a big, tough challenge yesterday where it was all about making pars and getting the odd birdie to kind of get one in the bank.
“Today was much more every hole was nearly trying to make a birdie flat out all the way home. Completely different mind-set today compared to yesterday on most of the holes.”
Harrington definitely thought there was an overreaction to the first day.
“Scoring was quite good (on Thursday),” he said. “It wasn’t like it was Carnoustie in 1999.
“The cut line is moving into 1-over. I think the golf course is well capable of taking a windy day, because the fairways are wide, the greens are wide. There’s nowhere that you can’t run it in from 30, 40 yards short of the green. It was playable yesterday if you knew how to hit links golf shots.
“The problem is that some of the guys are not used to playing links golf, and they don’t like the idea that you may have to hit a reasonable iron shot for your third shot into a par 5. That’s what I would grew up with.
“Branden (Grace) is a bit like myself; he’s well capable of hitting the right shots in links conditions, so I think he would prefer it a bigger, tougher challenge. I can see that’s what he’s saying and I would be right there with him. I think the guys that can manage the wind would rather have the tougher challenge.”
The veteran feels in a good place going into the weekend, however.
“If nobody gets away from me, it means that I kind of play the same way for the next two days, I’ll certainly have a chance coming down that back nine on Sunday,” he said.
“I’d probably be able to manage myself around a links golf course on a bad day without being necessarily on form. I’m starting to putt a little better and I’ve been driving the ball much better. Yeah, a bit of confidence and I could be right up there.”
Grace has moved into the World’s Top 10 had a good look at a couple of majors since he was denied here by Mickelson and he’s looking at it all as a progression with next week in mind.
“The last couple of events have been great, and coming back to links golf is something I like, I have some fond memories from here,” he said.
“I kind of think that I’m getting myself in contention in the big ones and I’m playing some good golf. I know that the day is going to come where I’m going to click in the majors and then I’m hopefully going to get my hands on one.”
Manassero, now 23, won four times before he was 20 culiminating in the BMW PGA Championship in 2013, but then decided to change his swing to get extra length and got a bit lost mentally.
“It wasn’t that I was being cuddled, and I didn’t want to be,” he said. “My coaches were annoyed, but it was all down to me.”
Things finally started to turn around in the spring, and he now feels a degree of confidence and an 11th hour qualification for the Open Championship next week within reach.
“It’s been in my mind in every tournament there was spots to qualify,” he added. “It’s obviously not something that puts me extra pressure or anything, it’s something that if I play well and it comes, I’m delighted to go and play for the fifth week in a row at Royal Troon.”
Lee, whose record as the youngest tour winner was taken by Manassero in 2009, would have been defending the Greenbrier Classic title on the PGA Tour this week had it not been cancelled because of the flood disaster in West Virginia.
He’s donating cash for every birdie and eagle he makes to the Flood Relief fund. “Iwas so looking forward to go back there and interact with a lot of fans, people were just so nice to me last year.
“It’s really unfortunate what happened there, and I know it’s not that much to help everybody but I’m trying to make as much birdies as possible.”
