Former champion Louis Oosthuizen on Friday remained atop the leaderboard of the Open Championship after the South African’s scintillating second round of 65 saw him move to 11-under-par at Royal St George’s.
His total of 129 through 36 holes is an Open Championship record low score.
Earlier, Collin Morikawa’s 64 briefly took the American into the lead at nine under before Oosthuizen’s charge, which saw him pick up four shots in three holes between the 12th and the 14th.
Photo: Reuters
Oosthuizen’s victory in the 2010 British Open at St Andrews remains the lone major title of his career.
He has been close to adding to that tally on several occasions with six second place finishes, including two this year at the US Open and US PGA Championship.
The 38-year-old was threatening a repeat of his British Open success of 11 years ago when he romped away from the field to win by seven shots.
His only dropped shot of the tournament so far at the 16th reduced his lead to two strokes.
“To have any record at the Open is always very special,” Oosthuizen said. “I think I’ve played really well that the last two days. The last nine holes was as good a weather as you can get playing this golf course.”
Taiwan’s C.T. Pan, who was just one-over par in the first round, was cut after shooting a five-over 76 in the second. A birdie on the 16th hole did little to help him with bogeys on the seventh, 10th, 12th, 13th and 15th, alongside a double-bogey on 14th.
In Midland Michigan, defending champions Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura carded their third straight 65 in an alternate shot round to grab a share of the lead heading into the final day of the LPGA Great Lakes Bay Invitational.
The tandem went bogey-free at the windy Midland Country Club and are tied with Thailand’s Pajaree Anannarukarn and India’s Aditi Ashok at 15-under-par 195.
Taiwanese duo Hsu Wei-ling and Min Lee were tied at 27th place, after shooting a two-under-par 68, with birdies on holes two, three, five and 13.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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