Players braced for severe weather

• Yellow weather warning issued for St Andrews tomorrow
• Players bracing themselves for some horrendous conditions
• Spieth: “I think it’ll be a true Scottish day!”

Players are bracing themselves for a testing Friday at St Andrews after a yellow weather warning was issued by the Met Office for heavy rain throughout the morning, which is expected to be accompanied by 25-30mph gusts.

Conditions were very calm first thing on Thursday, prompting a host of low scores as the 144th Open Championship got underway, but they soon dried up in the afternoon as the wind began to swirl.

And with the forecast looking far from kind, players seem to be relishing the challenge ahead and accepting the fact that it’s all just a part of competing in an Open Championship

“I think it’ll be a true Scottish day” – Jordan Spieth

“It’s definitely going to be a brutal day,” said Jordan Spieth, who shot a five-under-par 67 on Thursday. “We just don’t know when the rain’s going to start, when it’s going to stop, when it’s going to come back. I think it’ll be a true Scottish day that we should all enjoy!”

Spieth’s views were echoed by Tommy Fleetwood, who endured tougher conditions on day one with an afternoon tee time but still managed to record a three-under-par 69.

“There’s not much to look forward to by the sounds of it but everybody is going to have to play in it,” said Fleetwood. “That’s just part of the deal, isn’t it? It’s part of the Open so we’ll just have to see what we have to deal with.”

CONTINUES BELOW…

Danny Willett, who arguably shot the round of the day with a six-under-par 66 from his afternoon tee time, used slightly more extreme words to describe what could be in store.

“It could be Armageddon from the looks of it,” said the Englishman. “A 25-30 yard breeze is playable because you know how far the ball is going to move and stuff like that. Windy like it is, that’s an Open Championship. If you’ve got control of your ball you know you can still make birdies. When it starts to get worse, it can be a bit of a lottery.”

Also commenting on possible conditions was Luke Donald, who said things could become increasingly tough.

“Wind is a pretty good equaliser,” he said after his four-under-par 68. “It makes golf difficult. If it’s blowing 20-25 or I’ve even heard gusts of 40, that’s going to be very, very difficult and a very different golf course. We’ll just have to see what it’s like.”

The Open :: Heading down on Friday?

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