Friday British Open Semi Live Blog

8:30 pm

5-1/2 hours until play resumes, assuming weather cooperates.  Looks like the rain will end shortly before resumption.  Winds will be about 21 mph, which is a little lighter than they will be later in the day.  I’m going to set my clock.

Oh, by the way, David Duval is close to making the cut.  If Duval makes the cut and Woods misses, oh, baby, that will make Duval’s Golf Channel appearances a lot of fun!!

6:50 pm  The Scroll

I honestly believe the constant scroll ESPN runs — and I don’t limit this to just this golf broadcast, but for all their programming — is an insult to the intelligence of every viewer.  It’s a constant distraction; even when you manage to ignore it, you are being distracted subliminally every time it moves.  It’s called the “orienting response,” and it’s not done by accident.

6:00 pm

• It’s amusing how the golf media will obsess over Woods, refusing to back off until a tipping point is reached — Woods mathematically out of an event, basically — and suddenly he all but disappears from the telecast.  Like when he’s eleven shots back, he might still be a huge story.  Twelve back?  Oh, no, no.  Of course not.  That would be silly.
• I feel compelled to get up and watch Jordan play his closing holes.  They are pretty critical.  Of course, I might get up only to find it is raining.
• The Snedeker Report — Sneds beat two Euros, tied one, and lost to four.  I think Grace was T-3 at the U.S. Open and is a respectable T-25 here.  Lahiri made the cut at the Masters and here, and Sneds missed both of those (as I recall).  I think jalnichols needs to apologize for insulting Lahiri, Jaidee, Gallacher, Bjorn, Jimenez, Warren, and Grace.  The idea that these players aren’t fit to lift Snedeker’s jock is obviously a wrong-headed one.  Especially the younger one, who have the bulk of their careers ahead of them.  Sneds has a PGA Tour scalp this year, and every time these players are in the field with Sneds, they play competitively, making as many cuts as Sneds.  The idea that the Euro Tour is filled with guys not good enough for the Hooters Tour or whatever is ludicrous.
• I miss Rory.  He’s a long-hitter (who would enjoy an advantage at St. Andrews) I enjoy rooting for.
• Spieth’s par from the bunker on No. 13 (?) was sorely needed.  I was already adding a third “wasted” stroke to his tally this week.  There’s something about Spieth and how he is able to salvage a score on so many holes.
• Matsuyami was insane today.  I noticed his caddie, Shindo, a couple of times today, and he looked like he was having a good time.  One of them was right after Hideki hit that big curving putt from off the green after Spieth hit a great putt just before and gave him a perfect read.

4:44 pm  Talk about the tail wagging the dog.  Watson could walk across the damned bridge without playing the hole.  He could walk it tomorrow.  They could have given him a late-early tee time.

3:05 pm  In the Seniors Division competition, Tiger Woods and Tom Watson lead at +6.  Nick Faldo is four back at +10.  Mark Calcavecchia is at +11.

3:00 pm These stupid sons of bitches needs to stop trying to be funny and focus on the tournament.  They just said, “DJ is teeing off.”  He hits.  “Jordan doesn’t like it.”  WTH?  It was Spieth teeing off.  When the players are all dressed in black and gray, we need identification of the players.  This is awful.  I don’t give two shits about some idiot I don’t know whose handicap is 1.5.  So freaking what.  I DO care about who is freaking teeing off!!!

I can’t take this.  These guys are getting huge checks for this grab-ass BS.

2:30 pm  “Good call, Andy.”  Indeed!

Now, Jordan, don’t you dare miss this putt, son!

2:00 pm  Bubba Watson is sitting right at the cut line, and has a game that suits St. Andrews.  Have they even shown him yet?  Have they even shown him?  I have not seen him.  I have not SEEN him.  I would not even know he is playing.  But, Woods, who needs to gain three or four strokes before he is even in cut line territory, is having his every shot shown.

Well, ESPN lost the British Open.  Only one more year after this one.

1:30 pm  To everyone who bitched about Fox’s coverage (which was actually fairly great), I hope you are watching this pathetic crap.  ESPN is covering nonsense players, blocking the hole with graphics, running a useless scroll.  Now, it’s 75 percent commercials to make up for the wasted time.  Matsuyama had the shortest birdie putt on No. 3, and they didn’t even show it.  Oh, that’s right, he’s Asian.  The racism against Asian in the golf media is sickening.  In fact, he’s freaking -3 after three holes!!!  ESPN is showing fracking Woods and Faldo!!!!!

1:20 pm  Can they not at least do split-screen?  This is infuriating.

1:15 pm  How can ESPN not cover the group with the leader and the man going for the Grand Slam in order to show Faldo and Woods?

1:05 pm  Looks like ESPN is planning to cover Nick Faldo nonstop until Tiger Woods tees off.  We can read about Spieth and DJ’s round in tomorrow morning’s newspaper, I guess.

12:48 am  It’s Go Time!!!  (finally…)

10:30 am Scoreboard Watching Russell Henley having a good round, -4 on the day through 13 holes, after a +2 yesterday.  Sir Nick is E after nine holes; far better than yesterdays +11.  One hour until Sneds; two hours until Jordan and DJ.

9:50 am  My internal clock is in synch with St. Andrews time, so the delay has thrown me off.  So, while I’m waiting for the later tee times, I’ll share a few thoughts about…

Things That Have Happened Since Tiger Woods Last Won a Major:

• Joe the Plumber gained fame
• Sarah Palin became a household name
• President Obama was elected — twice (and won a Nobel peace prize)
• Sully Sullenberger safely landed an airplane in the Hudson River
• Michael Jackson died
• Ted Kennedy died
• The first Twilight movie was released (there are now five of them)
• The first Fast and Furious movie was released (there are now seven of them)
• Television programs Modern Family, Glee, and The Middle aired for the first time

All those things seem to me about a million years ago.  The golf media continues to treat Woods as the story before every golf major.

8:30 am  Mr Elling says Jordan and DJ unlikely to finish until tomorrow morning. (“Reign storm: Weather delay means Slam-seeking Spieth likely won’t finish today“)

I have said it many times before, but following Dan Jenkins and Steve Elling on Twitter is a pretty decent thing to do during majors.

Right now, all of the Euro Seven lead Brandt Snedeker, but, in fairness, he has yet to start today, and the early holes usually yield birdies.

American sports reporters like to make jokes about guys like Danny Willett, as if they just fell out of a tree.  If they followed the European Tour, though, they’d know his name is frequently near the top of leader boards.

Hey, I just noticed David Duval beat Woods by four yesterday.

5:30 am I woke up to find a weather delay.  Play has resumed.  The weather.com forecast for St. Andrews shows no more rain until the afternoon, and the worst hourly forecast then shows only 20 percent chance of rain.  The wind is said to be around 17 mph now, gradually increasing and peaking about 24 mph in the afternoon, before diminishing a little; I’m not sure about gusts.  We’ll have to wait and see, but it would appear the weather might not affect the outcome too much.  The afternoon was tougher yesterday, and it would appear to be tougher today, too.  Sunset there isn’t until nearly 10 pm, but with a four-hour delay, will the second-round be completed today?  DJ and Spieth tee off at 5:48 pm.  Sunset is 9:47 pm.  Do they have an extended twilight that far north?  From a short-term selfish standpoint, it sure is going to be a long wait until Spieth tees off.

Fowler tees off in an hour; maybe he can post something good and put himself in contention.  Six of the Euro Seven are on the course early, too.  Still, it seems like most of the players I’m interested in are on the late side of the draw.

ESPN just showed John Daly on the range, cigarette dangling from his lips.  All is right with the world.  (By the way, Daly said that yesterday afternoon was the toughest conditions he had ever played in at St. Andrews.)