High winds force suspension of play at St Andrews
There were fears that the expected driving rain and blustery winds could see many players come unstuck at St Andrews today, but did anyone really believe that conditions could be so chaotic that a suspension of play would be required at the 139th Open Championship today?
With winds so forceful that the balls were blowing about on the greens, play has had to be brought to an early - hopefully temporary - halt. Alas, the decision to call time on play came a little late for Phil Mickelson, who had just birdied the 18th moments before the suspension.
With winds expected to continue at high velocity for the rest of the day, when play will next resume is a mystery for now. South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen currently stands atop the leaderboard on 12-under-par for the tournament, three ahead of yesterday's leader Rory McIlroy, although McIlroy has only played as far as the 3rd hole today.
One player who managed to complete his 18 holes was Mickelson. There was just the slightest hint of needle from Mickelson when the 40-year-old was asked about how players would cope with the conditions.
"Well they don't have to, play has been suspended," he commented with a touch of impatience - perhaps understandably, given the world No. 2 had just laboured through 18 holes of increasingly gale-swept golf with not much in the way of reward.
Not that Mickelson was blaming the weather alone for an unsatisfying couple of days play. "I've had maybe a poor deal with the weather, but I've also played poorly. I need some luck now, I need to make a round of seven-under, and I need conditions that are conducive to do that," the Californian admitted, having posted a one-under-par 71 today.
That's an improvement on yesterday's one-over. But with a tournament total of level par, while Mickelson is likely to make the cut, any prospect of catching the leaders seems pretty fanciful at this stage.
Let's hope the wind doesn't do for McIlroy when he returns to the fairways; play is expected to begin again at around 15.40.
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