Hell Hath No Fury Like The Old Course

by Jeff Skinner

I listened to the iconic Tom Watson refer to The Old Course at St. Andrews as “the lady” and the “old girl” so if it’s good enough for Tom it’s good enough for me.  I am going all literary on you now, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”  That sums up the way “the old girl” behaved on Friday.  After being taken advantaged of on Thursday with so many scores in the 60’s it looked more like The John Deere than The Open Championship.  The Old Course got its revenge on the field in the second round as it made the world’s best golfers pay for the damage they inflicted on the old girl.

After sprinkling the boys with a little summer rain in the morning some might have thought that the early groups were going to get the worst of it. Not so fast, as the fickle old girl let loose a fury that had the boys wondering how a ball could go that far off line and had them standing in their tracks as they watched their balls oscillate in the gale force winds.  The afternoon groups were facing an Old Course that would not yield anything below par and the players were lucky to survive and make it to the weekend.

The carnage was mighty and the Old Girl made many a professional question what had just happened to them.  These poor souls felt the wrath of the Old (Girl) Course and will get to watch the rest of The Open Championship on the tele.

Justin Rose: so much for being the hottest golfer on the planet.

Ernie Els: his track record at The Open and great play of late made no difference.

Tom Watson: he left his magic on the 18^th fairway at Turnberry.

Angel Cabrerra:  no matter, he was in short sleeves while the rest were shivering.  He’s my kind of golfer.

Jim Furyk:  see Ernie Els.

Geoff Ogilvy:  we are still waiting for him to prove 2006 US Open wasn’t a fluke.

Paddy Harrington: so much for Paddy’s quest for a third Open Championship.

David Duval:  another step backward in his comeback.

Phil Mickelson:  he didn’t miss the cut but he might as well have.  He came in with such high expectations but couldn’t sweet talk the old girl.  He’s at even par and 12 strokes back, he’s done.