7 p.m. St Andrews time (11 a.m. PDT)
Ian McShane was back to open the second TV session of The Open Championship.
“The church burned Protestant reformer Patrick Hamilton at the stake outside the chapel of University of St Andrews. His initials mark the spot,” McShane said, adding that students, nearly 500 years later, avoid treading on the “PH” in the cobblestones lest they fail their final exams.
“Except for these morons,” he said, as the camera showed modern-day feet walking directly over the initials. “Now, they’re probably Yanks.”
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Yanks were all over the first two pages of the leaderboard in this most international of championships, still led by Dustin Johnson at minus-7. Lots of good players still left on the course, heading into the gloaming.
Rickie Fowler, the Scottish Open champ, in a vibrant blue ensemble, gave a shot back at 13 to drop to even par, but more importantly, he might be an early leader in the race for Champion Dresser of the Year. Haven’t glimpsed Graeme McDowell yet.
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McShane again, over video of pints of Belhaven Ale and extra-cold Guinness being poured for golfers in the pub at St Andrews.
“Because hydration is important in the world of sports, you know,” McShane said.
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Tiger Woods, who didn’t take any kind of advantage of the benign Old Course Thursday, wants thornier conditions tomorrow — if he handles them, and the other players don’t.
“Hopefully the conditions will be tough tomorrow and I can put together a good round and move up the board progressively,” he said.
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