Notebook, Round 2: British Open

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Weather: Morning showers turned into some sunny skies and heavy winds. Winds from the SW 20-25 mph with gusts up to 41 mph. High in the upper 60s.

Strong winds forced a 65-minute suspension during the second round of the 2010 British Open from 9:40 a.m. ET until 10:45 a.m ET. Play was suspended due to darkness at 4:45 p.m. ET, with 30 players yet to complete their round. Those players will be back in position at 1:30 a.m. ET Saturday. The third round will begin approximately one hour after the second round concludes.

Prior to Friday, the last wind delay at the British Open came at Royal Birkdale in 1998, when winds reached 40 mph and forced a 38-minute delay during the second round -- the same day Justin Rose fired a 66 to equal the lowest score in British Open history by an amateur.

Prior to Friday, the last time the British Open failed to complete a round on the day it began was in 2003 when darkness forced a suspension of the first round at Royal St. George's.

The British Open is the second event this year suspended due to wind. During the semi-finals of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship, strong winds forced a 15-minute suspension. (Note: Heavy rains were also present, but the wind was the actual cause of the delay).

Dating to 1999, the PGA TOUR has had six events delayed by wind: 2010 British Open, 2010 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, 2009 Shell Houston Open, 2007 Verizon Heritage, 2005 FBR Open and the 1999 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic.

Rory McIlroy

First-round leader Rory McIlroy posted an 8-over 80 on Friday to fall to 1-under 143.

Rory McIlroy's 63 on Thursday represented the 24th time a player carded that number in a Major Championship. His 80 on Friday marks the highest score in the following round by any of those players. The scoring average for those players in their following round (not counting players who posted 63 in the final round) is now 72.11:

Louis Oosthuizen

Louis Oosthuizen, a 27-year-old native of Mossel Bay, South Africa, posted a 5-under 67 on Friday to move to 12-under 132 after 36 holes of the 2010 British Open. He currently holds a five-stroke lead over Mark Calcavecchia and a six-stroke lead over Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and Steven Tiley (thru 10 holes).

Should it hold up when the second round concludes, Oosthuizen's five-stroke lead would be the largest 36-hole cushion at the British Open since Bobby Clampett held the same lead at Royal Troon in 1982.

The last time a player led by as many as five strokes after 36 holes on the PGA TOUR was in 2006 when Tiger Woods held a five-shot lead at the WGC-American Express Championship. Earlier that season, Phil Mickelson led by six at the BellSouth Classic.

The largest 36-hole lead so far in 2010 is four strokes, held by Jason Bohn at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and Justin Rose at the Travelers Championship.

Oosthuizen will make his first weekend appearance this week in four starts at the British Open. He carded rounds of 74-82 to miss the cut at Troon in 2004, rounds of 78-69 to miss the cut at Hoylake in 2006 and rounds of 70-76 to miss the cut at Turnberry last year.

In 15 previous career starts on the PGA TOUR, Oosthuizen's only top-25 finish was T20 at the 2009 World Golf Championships-CA Championship.

Winners of the British Open from South Africa:
- Bobby Locke (1949, 1950, 1952, 1957)
- Gary Player (1959, 1968, 1974)
- Ernie Els (2002)

Countries Represented - Winners of the British Open:
- United States (27 winners, 42 wins)
- Scotland (22 winners, 41 wins)
- England (14 winners, 28 wins)
- Australia (4 winners, 9 wins)
- South Africa (3 winners, 8 wins)
- Spain (1 winner, 3 wins)
- Republic of Ireland (1 winner, 2 wins)
- Argentina (1 winner, 1 win)
- France (1 winner, 1 win)
- New Zealand (1 winner, 1 win)
- Northern Ireland (1 winner, 1 win)
- Zimbabwe (1 winner, 1 win)

Graeme McDowell

U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell (68) moved to 5-under 139 through two rounds of the British Open. He is making his seventh British Open start, with a T11 at St. Andrews in 2005 his best outing.

McDowell is attempting to become just the seventh player to win the U.S. Open and the British Open in the same season, and the first since Tiger Woods in 2000, who won at Pebble Beach and St. Andrews:
Tiger Woods 2000
Tom Watson 1982
Lee Trevino 1971
Ben Hogan 1953
Gene Sarazen 1932
Bobby Jones 1930, 1926

Mark Calcavecchia

Mark Calcavecchia, a 50-year-old member of the Champions Tour, carded a 5-under 67 to move to 7-under 137 through two rounds, while playing partner and fellow Champions Tour member Peter Senior posted a 1-under 71 to move to even-par 144.

Calcavecchia is making his 24th start at the British Open, with eight top-25 finishes and a victory in 1989 at Troon. Friday's 67 fell just one shy of his best score at the British Open, carded during the first round in 1993 (finished T14) and the second round in 2002 (finished T80).

Tom Lehman

Tom Lehman posted a 4-under 68 to move to 5-under 139 through two rounds, equaling his third-best 36-hole total at the British Open:

Lehman is making his 17th start at the British Open, with top-10 finishes in 1996 (1st) and 2000 (T4 at St. Andrews). The 50-year-old won earlier this year at the Senior PGA Championship.

Lehman and Calcavecchia are seeking to become the oldest major championship winner. Here's a look at the 10 oldest major winners:

Stewart Cink

Defending champion Stewart Cink followed up a 2-under 70 with a 2-over 74 to fall to even-par 144 in his 13th start at the British Open and third at St. Andrews (T41-2000, MC-2005).

Cink is attempting to become the seventh player to post consecutive British Open victories since 1951 (and the 17th overall): Padraig Harrington (2007-08), Tiger Woods (2005-06), Tom Watson (1982-83), Lee Trevino (1971-72), Arnold Palmer (1961-62) and Peter Thomson (1954-56).

Ernie Els

One day after a 3-under 69, Ernie Els posted a 7-over 79 for his second worst score in 76 rounds at the British Open (first-round 80 at Royal Birkdale in 2008).

Els remains one shy of Nick Faldo for the most sub-70 scores at the British Open (37 -- Faldo, 36 -- Ernie Els, 33 -- Jack Nicklaus).

Els has just two missed cuts at the British Open -- in his debut in 1989 and in 2010. He had finished outside of the top 30 just once (T34-2005) in 18 consecutive appearances in between those starts.

Rickie Fowler

Rickie Fowler, making his first British Open appearance, carded a second-round 67 for a 12-stroke improvement over an opening round 79. Last year, Fowler produced a 10-stroke improvement (78-68) at the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black, but also missed the cut.

Miscellaneous Notes

The second-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win 10 of 28 stroke-play events on the PGA TOUR this season, most recently Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic.

Dating to 1968 at the British Open, the 36-hole leader has prevailed 15 times in 42 attempts.

Here's a look at scores for second-round leaders at British Opens hosted at St. Andrews since 1970:

Amateur Leaderboard
Eric Chun 71-76--147
Victor Dubuisson 80-73--153
Tyrrell Hatton 78-77--155
Laurie Canter 81-79--160
Jin Jeong 68-TBD
Byeong-Hun An 72-TBD
Jamie Abbott 73-TBD

Past Champion Leaderboard
Mark Calcavecchia 70-67--137
Tom Lehman 71-68--139
Tiger Woods 67-73--140
John Daly 66-76--142
Stewart Cink 70-74--144
Ernie Els 69-79--148
Tom Watson 73-75--148
Todd Hamilton 72-77--149
Ben Curtis 76-73--149
Justin Leonard 76-74--150
Padraig Harrington 73-77--150
Sandy Lyle 75-76--151
Paul Lawrie 69-82--151
Nick Faldo 72-81--153
David Duval 77-78--155
Mark O'Meara 69-TBD

Bogey-free rounds:

R1: Rory McIlroy, Steven Tiley, Bradley Dredge, Nick Watney, Y.E. Yang, Camilo Villegas, Henrik Stenson, Steve Marino, Robert Allenby, Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer

R2: 67 -- Mark Calcavecchia; 68 -- Tom Lehman; 70 -- Toru Taniguchi; 71 -- Lee Westwod