It’s very easy, when following him, to see why Phil has so many fans. If any of his “aw shucks” persona is an act I’m fooled. Just genuinely seems like a good dude. Lots of crowd interaction relative to the other players.

His win rate with that strategy is >0.

fyp

KUUUUUCH gonna sneak into the winner's circle on Sunday

Tiger right in this tournament. LOL at thinking otherwise.

Fleetwood +600
Johnson/Rory +700
Spieth/Rickie +900

Awesome weekend shaping up.

i bet fleetwood and Zach after round one. they were both at +3500 at that time, so neither will win

sick of Jon Rham throwing clubs. kid isn't ready for the tests of a major championship.

Sick troll with "Johnson" +700

Spieth filled to the gills with WIM once he gets rolling, wouldn't be surprised.

He's gonna need things to get very chaotic and a miracle imo.

D2 things:

There is a 63 out there on this course. I'll be shocked if somebody doesn't shoot it tomorrow. Phil played poorly today and shot 69. If he plays above average he shoots 66 or better. Didn't hit fairways and didn't make easy (for him) putts.

Tiger isn't winning this because he can't string birdies together. He can't string birdies together because he just can't be consistently aggro. I think, once upon a time, Nick Price said that Tiger was great because he's "always playing well against Old Man Par." There was something to that when he was longer than everyone and a top 10 putter but he's neither of those things anymore, will probably finish between +2 and -2 (with the potential for a 77 much greater than for a 65) and he is most certainly not "back".

Spieth is the best bet on the board right now. Putter started working today. If he putts like he's capable he almost can't shoot himself out of an under par round. I expect him to go low tomorrow. I realize this goes against what I said yesterday. He just carried himself better today.

I could feel ZJ on Wednesday and Finau on Thursday. If I had to grab somebody that I thought was on it today, other than Spieth, it was McIlroy or Fleetwood. They both shot their rounds completely in the rain and while the wind wasn't bad at all today they had the worst of it out there. Fleetwood looked like a man on a mission. VERY happy to have him at 20-1. Almost as happy at having ZJ at 80-1.

The other guy I have at long odds? Eddie Pepperell! Had a nice round today but doesn't seem to have much for the leaders.

Adam Scott has Fanny Sunesson (Faldo's retired caddy) on the bag this week. Every time I've looked at him he's made bogey. Otherwise he's playing great.

Guy the leaders are upset didn't miss the cut? Probably Patrick Reed who had it at -4 after 14 but struggled coming in. He might be top 10 in odds to find that 63 tomorrow. He needs it.

The pins seemed accessible today, especially on the front 9. Phil really should have gone out at 4 under. What a lost day after that awful double on 6. Otherwise he was great.

There are a stunning amount of very attractive people at this tournament with the top being Kevin Na's wife who is impossible gorgeous in person.

There are also a stunning amount of drunks but they all seem to congregate around the tents/big screen away from the course. Good on the R&A for figuring out how to keep them relatively contained.

There are probably 50 bean bag chairs total in a few locations. They are always full because that's an awesome idea. I did some work in one of them today.

Sunburn on your forearms is the most painful sunburn other than top of feet.

It's very easy to see golfers who have straight up quit. Jimmy Walker and Bubba Watson both had that look this week.

There are MANY Belgians here following Pieters and Colsaerts. They have the biggest galleries aside from the biggest names.

Tiger and Phil go off in b2b rounds tomorrow which makes me think that viewing elsewhere is likely to be awesome. Front 9 for the leaders, unless Tiger and Phil both sink, is going to be easy to scope out.

There is an excellent "specialty chicken" stand aside fairway 6 where they sell sweet potato fries with "cajun mayo" which may be the most delicious thing I've had to eat in the UK that wasn't Indian food. It's also sitting next to a stand labeled "Mexican Burritos" which my friend and I both cringed when we saw.

More on d3. Love this tournament!

Excellent report loosekanen!

kanen,

Great report!

Forearms can't compare. About a dozen years ago I had 3rd degree burns (from sunburn) on the tops of my feet. I have been told by people who should know that a burn clinic would have gone ape**** treating me. I couldn't walk for about a week. Tops of my feet are still tender and extremely sensitive to the sun.

Looking forward to Sat & Sun reports!

Agreed that top-of-feet sunburn is the absolute worst. I got it at the Indy 500 one year and couldn't wear shoes for 4 days.

u enjoying some delicious breakfast, kanaanite?
?!

Should be some low scores today if conditions stay the same

I guess Johnny shows up when he wants

I find the bacon rolls to be quite acceptable. I will definitely be going back for those sweet potato fries later today, though. I’m at the top of 8 green grandstand now. Can see three greens and two tee boxes. Crowds seem heavier today. Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, it is the weekend after all. But already many more drunk groups and it’s only 1230. Will be a long day.

More Jakes Takes and Jimmy Roberts please, NBC

All,

A dude in a member guest having his wife follow around on a cart is a huge dbag move, right?

Separately, what level of creepy old guy is socially appropriate with a 10/10 cart girl who is actively flirting with everyone?

Politely tell her you love your golf and Cart girls, *aww sweet old man*

then oafishly exclaim "All my holes in one place"

I wanna see a guy with the last name Mickelsons get on tour and start making runs in majors just before the real Mickelson is about to tee off. See how he handles it.

Chris Wood’s collapse has been fast and brutal.

Tiger looks like he feels good with his new back. He’s crushing it off the tee. Still can’t putt though.

DOINK