British Open: Dustin Johnson Still in Front, Tom Watson Says Goodbye

Rain and Tom Watson served as the biggest stories of the second round of the 144th Open Championship played Friday on the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.

Due to a three-hour rain delay, tournament leader Dustin Johnson walked off the course at ten under par midway through the 14th hole as the sun went down. He holds a one-shot advantage over Englishman Danny Willett who sat in the clubhouse on a second round 69, an impressive follow-up to his scorching 66 on Thursday.

Tom Watson in his 38th appearance at the British Open said goodbye to an appreciative crowd as he acknowledged that this would be his last time playing in it.

“There were no tears,” Watson said. “This is a joyous occasion. I have a lot of great, great memories. And those memories filled me up.”

The golf legend won the Open five times and fell short of a sixth at the age of 59 when he lost in a playoff to Stewart Cink in 2009. None of Watson’s Open victories came at St. Andrews.

Jordan Spieth also walked off at the 14th hole and sits five behind Johnson with five holes to play to complete his second round.

Spieth looks to be only the second men’s golfer in history to win four majors in the same calendar year. The twenty one-year-old Texan seized the green jacket at the Masters in April. Moreover, he won the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay by one stroke over Johnson, when the 31-year-old South Carolina native three-putted on the 72nd hole.

Spieth needs a big weekend to bring home the claret jug. If successful at St. Andrews, he would need to win at Whistling Strait in August to complete the Grand Slam.

Justin Day and Paul Lawrie still have to finish their second round and are both eight under par and two behind Johnson. Australian Adam Scott shot a 67 that left him three behind the leader at seven under par after firing five birdies with no bogies.

Tiger Woods completed eleven holes and is one over for the day and five over for the tournament. He will need to birdie five of his last seven holes tomorrow to continue playing over the weekend. This likely will be a consecutive missed cut for Tiger at a Major tournament.