This morning’s leaders - KJ Choi and Greg Norman. Photographs: Gerry Penny & John Walton/EPA/PA

2.54pm: Staying with the leaders, Choi finds the bunker but sets himself up for par by brilliantly chipping close. Meanwhile, Norman thrashes out of the thick stuff and then smashes a ball to the right face of the green. He two putts to secure the bogey. Choi, meanwhile, holes his par to double his lead. The only man in the tournament to be under par for the championship. Remarkable.

2.45pm: Back at the first, Greg Norman bangs a driver miles into the rough, of course, finding the middle of the fairway hasn’t guaranteed anything so far today, but still, he’ll do well to better a double bogey from there. Meanwhile, leader K J Choi opts for a three wood which is pinged down the middle.

2.43pm: Ben Curtis, champion in 2003, holes a fine par on 18 to complete a round of 70. Very impressive indeed, despite a wobbly back nine, which in fairness is due in no small measure to the weather worsening.

2.39pm: There’s warm reception for KJ Choi as he walks towards the first tee and a veritable roar for Greg Norman. What awaits them, though? It seems the wind has picked up substantially. The flag on the fifth has been destroyed and course officials are monitoring the greens as ball’s are moving on the 8th and 10th greens. Play could well be suspended.

It’s the debate that refuses to die. “Mr Gamble is only partly right,” says Gary Naylor. “Since the days of Watson and Nicklaus, American golfers in particular have got used to playing in ornamental gardens which demand a relatively narrow range of shots. Days like this demand that and a whole lot more: patience, sang froid and imagination. Luck plays its part (as it should) but over 72 holes, the best man wins.” “Pulease…,” retorts Mr Gamble, “If you would rather have Todd Hamilton and Ben Curtis than Watson and Nicklaus, you are welcome to them.”

2.29pm: It’s a catalogue of woe. Ian Poulter drops his first shot at the par three fourth, despite a quite brilliant recovering chip that is only inches from dropping. Garcia hacks back into play on the eighth - a monster of a par four - and looks certain to drop his third shot of the day. Van de Velde notches a double bogey at the fourth. Then, after making such a brilliant start, Harrington drills his second at the second deep into a bunker at the back of the green. He recovers well and then misses the par putt in wind so strong he has difficulty standing.

And actually, thinking about what Patrick said, I don’t think K J Choi would be an ‘nondescript’ winner. He’d really deserve it in the very unlikely event that he can hold on. Away from the musings, Stephen Ames holes a monster putt on the second to save par - so by backing up what I said about it being a day for great golfing knitware. The man is dressed like my gran’s teapot.

2.20pm: Harrington opened with a birdie. Duval began with an, er, triple bogey seven.

“Ever since the R and A started ‘toughening up the course’, we’ve had aseries of nondescript champions, starting with Paul Lawrie, the worstchampion in Open history,” rages Patrick Gamble. “The best Open I have seen in 50 years of watching was Turnberry 77 when the two finest golfers of the decade went head to head, and produced the lowest winning score in Open history. The reason these tricked up courses produce duff winners is that the game becomes a matter of luck as much as skill. I suspect for manyof the hackers who seem to enjoy seeing the pros suffer, golf is normallyas much about luck as skill, but it is not meant to be.” Sure enough, Patrick, the balance can swing too far in favour of luck, but… I’m one of those hackers you describe and it’s not just bitterness that makes me link seeing top golfers suffer. I mean, this weather-dominated Open is providing a different kind of challenge. And a kind of challenge, that’s because it’s relatively rare, does create its own intrigue.

2:12pm: Ben Curtis, who just an hour or so ago was looking well placed for a final day charge has really fallen away over the back nine. Three bogies have sent him back to par for the day, +8 for the championship. The title of only-player-under-par-for-the-day has now transferred to Goosen, who reached the turn at one under.

2:08pm: Staying with Duval and Harrington, it’s very much a tale of two approach shots. Duval blocks his out to the right, while Harrington keeps his shot low and makes the green in regulation. One of the few to manage that today.

2:05pm: Following Garcia and Poulter’s lead, Duval opts for an iron. Hardly surprising as the ball will barely stay on the tee. Duval whips one on to the fairway, and Harrington follows. They’re spitting distance apart. In the context of unrelenting left to right wind, they’re two beauties.

1:59pm: Frederick Jacobson starts his round, he’s well placed at +3 and has played some fine golf to date. Yet Freddie begins by hitting left into the rough and then walloping the second into deeper rough. The first two holes are tougher than your mother’s month old apple cake. With the leaders about to take centre stage, it already looks to be about negotiating the first few holes as steadily as possible and then kicking on from there. Here comes David Duval and holder Padraig Harrington who finished so well yesterday…

1.55pm: Ian Poulter finds a good lie on the second… From a drop. With his view obstructed by a television tower he gets an advantageous drop and makes full use of it driving his second shot to the fringes of the green. Only one birdie on the second hole today.

Graeme McDowell, links player extraordindaire, is expecting “a brute of a day”. He’s in the third last group to go out (2.20pm) and certainly worth a punt. Back on the course, Garcia chips to within several feet on the hole on the fifth - just a short putt to save par. I say, “save par”, but really every par is like a birdie. Unless you’re Ben Curtis that is, though his return to human fallibility continues as he leaves a birdie putt on the 12th short.

1.43pm: Don’t be distracted by the pink, Ian Poulter scrambles a par on the first after a sublime chip out of the bunker to the front left of the hole. “Scrambling is the order of the day,” says Peter Alliss. He’s right, you know.

“Given Greg Norman’s past habit of losing in spectacular fashion ( see Larry Mize Augusta ‘87 and Faldo Augusta ‘96), how do we think the Shark is going to blow it when it would be easier to win?”, asks Allan Knox. I think the wind is more likely to blow it for Norman than his psyche. But to be honest, you need I Ching abilities to predict the winner at this point. I certainly don’t fancy any of the leaders to stay there if the weather is going to worsen.

1.34pm: Jean Van de Velde, who really would be a popular winner, is off and running finding the rough stuff off the first tee. Oh well, he’s far from alone. Meanwhile, England hopeful Ian Poulter (today in fragrant pink) snatches an iron to the edge of the fairway. If not Position A, Position B+ at least.

1.29pm: It’s steady as you go Sergio at the moment. Like every other golfer out there it’s been a bit of a march (out to the right- out to the left- out to the right) but he’s keeping the scoring going. Chipping out of the bunker on three and then holeing the putt.

1.23pm: Retief Goosen has worked a birdie opportunity at the seventh. Steering the ball down nicely against the wind on the par three. He holes it and is now level for the day. In contrast, his playing partner, Justin Rose, is having a shocker. Four bogeys and a double bogey so far.

“The Open is played in mid July, so the weather is often good, but for the majority of the year (and, therefore the majority of golfers) this is a normal day for golf. It’s not supposed to be easy, so it’s disappointing that players’ whinges have got some tees moved forward.” So says Gary Naylor, a shoe-in for the nonexistent Ryder Cup of GU emailers, or something. Boringly, I completely agree. Though Martin Hawtree’s remodelling of Birkdale this year, has a whiff of the surgically sculpted difficulty of the ultra modern course about it

1.14pm: Ben Curtis has done that Roadrunner thing. He’s woken up to the fact that he’s ripping it and in with a shout. He’s unlucky with the wind when he drops a shot at 12, but then he yips his three wood into the wildstuff on 13. Garcia continues his solid start to the second round. He hits a super shot into the second green, shaping the ball to within about 5 meters of the hole.

1.07pm: It’s Colin Montgomerie watch. The big man has carded 74. He now sits at 12 over, too far back to be in contention no matter what the weather. Also, no matter what you think of this sportsman-come-emotional volcano, he’s been an awesome Ryder Cup player and he also looks a long way off playing himself into one of Nick Faldo’s wildcard spots, even. A real shame. His playing partner, Stenson, finished with a a 70. He sits in the clubhouse at eight over, no doubt rueing the double bogey on 16th that sits between him and a realistic tilt at the title tomorrow.

1.00pm: Sergio Garcia is up and running. He played a solid iron down the first fairway but found the crowd with his second. He gets up and down and saves par. Picking the pattern of a golf tournament is always tricky - things develop so slowly, and at the same time things can change very quickly. If the weatherbods are right, though, then if Ben Curtis can scurry round quickly then being in the clubhouse at +3 could be looking very competitive. As if to prove the point, Justin Rose has bogeyed three out of the first four and despite having escaped from the trees on the fifth with some aplomb looks set to drop another shot.

Of the players on the course, the American Ben Curtis is the only player under par, he’s three just after the turn. The man is on fire. Or as close to on fire as you can be in damp, windy and grey conditions better suited to fell-running.

A double bogey on 16 has hurt Henrik Stenson’s round, but the Dane has hung in there well and is on target for a one over par 71. He’s also wearing a snazzy knitted hat. If nothing else, it could well be a day of great golfing knitware.

The man the media are calling the people’s favourite, Greg Norman, is out at 2.40pm, alongside the massively under appreciated KJ Choi. I admire the Great White Shark as much as anybody, but really, what a second round that was from the Korean.

According to our friends at the Met Office, cometh this afternoon’s big guns, cometh a lot more wind and bad weather and, in view of the expected conditions, tees on the 11th and 16th have been moved forward. It’s a good day to be an armchair golfer. As I say, it’s hostile out there.

Day three at the Open and the course is still playing hard, super hard. It’s hostile out there.

Paul Casey is already back in the clubhouse. He shot an eventful 73, clubbing the ball out of bounds on the first before gradually clawing himself back to some kind of credibility. (Though with a couple of entertaining lapses.) The fact that you can have credibility and be 12 over for the tournament says it all, really. Credit also to Brit Simon Khan, who dragged himself round in 71.

About this articleCloseThis article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Saturday July 19 2008. It was last updated at 14:54 on July 19 2008.

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