If anyone were entitled to whinge or moan about the difficulty of a golf course, you’d imagine it to be a man soon poised to play on the Champions Tour and not long recovered from a broken leg and using a strap to offset tennis elbow. But not if that someone happened to be Miguel Angel Jimenez, the 49-year-old pony-tailed, cigar-chomping Spaniard, who defied whatever ailments have beset him to breeze into the midway lead of this 142nd edition of the British Open here at the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers.
On another beautifully sunny day by the Firth of Forth, the Muirfield links – for a second successive round – provided a hard examination in many ways.
The course has been baked by weeks of near-incessant sunshine and yesterday players had to delicately craft shots off hard and unforgiving terrain; with the result that shots into unreceptive greens, especially the 15th, struggled to come to rest on the putting surface.
The frustrations of many players were clear. And, yet, such problems are what make links golf so unique. Patience, in this instance, was indeed a virtue. Nobody demonstrated such a noble trait as much as Jimenez, who fired a second round 71 for 139, three-under par, to take a one-stroke lead in to the weekend over a chasing posse of four players.
Not that Jimenez would be advised to look over his shoulder too closely: the quartet in pursuit comprises notables who have won all over the globe, including 14-time Major champion Tiger Woods.
Sweden's Henrik Stenson, England's Lee Westwood – who has only recently started to work with Woods's coach Seán Foley – and American Dustin Johnson completed the group.
Failed to survive
As ever, there were other notables who failed to make the cut. Justin Rose, another Foley disciple and winner of a breakthrough Major in last month's US Open at Merion, failed to survive. So too Jim Furyk, and Luke Donald. And Rickie Fowler.
And, most notable of all, world number two Rory McIlroy, who simply couldn’t overturn the nightmarish opening round 79: yesterday, he added a 75 for 154, 12-over par, and now has more spare time than he’d like on his hands.
“I guess I have a clearer picture of what I need to work on and what I need to do to put things right. Sometimes this game can feel further away than it actually is,” said McIlroy, seeking to take positives in the fact he covered his last 11 holes under-par.
“I’ve got a nice run of events coming up, six events in the next eight weeks. I’m looking forward to playing golf and playing tournaments and getting into a run of events.”
McIlroy’s departure only served to affirm the fickleness of his game, and how once favoured sons can be spurned.
This weekend, over the next two days, destiny will call a new champion. Who that will be is very much up in the air, for no fewer than 84 players survived the midway cut which fell on 150, eight-over par.
Among the survivors were four Irish players, led by 2011 champion Darren Clarke (in tied-11th on 143, one over), Graeme McDowell (on 146), Pádraig Harrington (on 148) and Shane Lowry (also on 148).
"Literally anything a little under par could win at this point," admitted McDowell, providing incentive to himself – and others – to stay patient on a course which punishes any lack of concentration.
Four-putting
The devilishly difficult nature of a bone-hard surface was in evidence again yesterday, as Phil Mickelson and Brandt Snedeker each had the ignominy of four-putting – "that one got out of control," observed Snedeker of his putting woes on the 15th – whilst the other part of the spectrum was demonstrated by Robert Garrigus launching a drive of 420 yards on the par-four 15th and rolling in an eagle putt from 100 feet.
Such idiosyncratic shots only served to underline the Jekyll and Hyde nature of the links, yet it was those who stayed patient and stuck to their game plans who fared best.
Woods, for example, kept his new Nike driver under its cover in his bag throughout the round. Jimenez, for his part, matched two birdies with two bogeys in offsetting the tennis elbow injury that has beset him since returning to play after missing the winter due to a broken leg suffered when skiing.
The tendons in his elbow became irritated and inflamed after he resumed practising on his return to golf, but there were no complaints from Jimenez who remarked of his longevity on tour: “I’ve 25 years on the tour, 19 victories on the tour and I would love to have a Major in my career. Of course. Why not this one? I would love it.”
And Tiger? “Just continue plodding along. Just continue just being patient, putting the ball in the right spots,” replied Woods, the player of the modern era who knows most about getting the job done in a Major over the weekend.
