KJ knocks Norman off lead
2008-07-18 21:12
Angus MacKinnon
Southport - KJ Choi claimed birdies on his last two holes to knock Greg Norman off the top of the Open leaderboard on Friday.
The South Korean claimed the outright lead after completing a three-under-par 67 that left him at one under for the tournament, one shot ahead of the veteran Australian, who had combined sublime putting with some vintage scrambling to register his second 70 of the tournament.
"It feels a bit like stepping back in time," admitted Norman, the 1986 and 1993 champion, while stressing that he was keeping his expectations for the rest of the tournament "realistically low."
Choi described his round as "the best I've played at the British Open.
Even more surprising
"Everything went the way I wanted it to. The fans' support was wonderful and I got great motivation from that."
Colombia's Camilo Villegas, who surged up the leaderboard after an extraordinary 65, was two shots off the lead, alongside David Duval, whose presence near the top of the leaderboard in the latter stages of his second round was arguably even more surprising than Norman's.
The 2001 champion has made just one cut in 12 attempts this year as he attempts to rebuild a career that went into freefall after his victory at Lytham.
Among the group on two-over was defending champion Padraig Harrington, who finished with an eagle and a birdie to card a 68.
"I'm well in there with 36 holes to go and you just need to be there with nine to play," said the delighted Irishman. "It's unlikely anybody is going to run away with it."
Knows his way around a course
No-one however could fully wrest the limelight away from Norman.
The 53-year-old, who recently married tennis legend Chris Evert, spends more time on the tennis court than on the golf course these days. He fits in tournaments when business commitments and injuries allow and he is making his first appearance at the Open since 2005.
But he still knows his way around a links course and the greens, as he proved by sinking a 50-foot putt for birdie on the first green to get to one under par.
Another monster putt enabled him to birdie the short seventh and a three at the eighth cancelled out the damage done by a double bogey at the sixth.
Seven solid pars followed but Norman really had to scrap to keep his round together over the last three holes.
A superb recovery from a greenside bunker, played with his feet outside the trap, salvaged par at the 16th and he needed to hole another two long putts to turn what could have been a 6-5 finish into 5-4.
Prospects not encouraged
Playing a couple of groups ahead of Norman, Villegas was making light of the blustery conditions with eight birdies, five of them on the last five holes.
After hitting the pin with his second shot at the 18th, he holed a 20-footer to complete a 2-4-3-4-3 finish and a remarkable score for someone who started the day with bogey fives on his first two holes.
"I putted a hundred times better than yesterday (on Thursday). It was a fun round," he said.
Rocco Mediate, Graeme McDowell and Robert Allenby, the overnight leaders and the only players to break par in their opening rounds, all dropped back with 73s but remain in the title hunt.
Pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia is five shots off the pace after a 73 and his prospects of challenging were not encouraged by a couple of missed tiddlers on the first and 18th greens.
- SAPA