Collin Morikawa’s equipment changes helped him win the 2021 British Open

These are the equipment changes that helped Collin Morikawa win the 2021 British Open.

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We know winning the 149th British Open was not easy, but Collin Morikawa made it look that way last week at Royal St. George’s. The 24-year-old Californian hit fairways, hit greens and made putts when he needed to. He even nailed the acceptance speech afterward while holding the Claret Jug.

During the tournament, commentators mentioned several times that Morikawa opted to change his short irons before the start of the British Open, but they did not explain why. They noted, in passing, that Morikawa also made some minor adjustments to his putter. They failed to mention that Morikawa had a new fairway wood in his bag, sort of.

For equipment lovers, here are all the details about Morikawa’s equipment and the adjustments he made to his bag before he became the Champion Golfer of the Year.

Collin Morikawa’s equipment changes helped him win the 2021 British Open

These are the equipment changes that helped Collin Morikawa win the 2021 British Open.

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We know winning the 149th British Open was not easy, but Collin Morikawa made it look that way last week at Royal St. George’s. The 24-year-old Californian hit fairways, hit greens and made putts when he needed to. He even nailed the acceptance speech afterward while holding the Claret Jug.

During the tournament, commentators mentioned several times that Morikawa opted to change his short irons before the start of the British Open, but they did not explain why. They noted, in passing, that Morikawa also made some minor adjustments to his putter. They failed to mention that Morikawa had a new fairway wood in his bag, sort of.

For equipment lovers, here are all the details about Morikawa’s equipment and the adjustments he made to his bag before he became the Champion Golfer of the Year.

British Open runner-up Jordan Spieth says ‘I did everything I could’

Jordan Spieth fired a 4-under 66 in Sunday’s final round to tie the lowest 72-hole total by a runner-up (Phil Mickelson, 2016).

Jordan Spieth mounted a valiant charge, but there was no stopping Collin Morikawa at the 149th British Open in Sandwich, England.

Spieth, who trailed by three strokes entering the final round, fired a 4-under 66 at Royal St. George’s to finish at 13-under 267, two strokes behind the champion, and tied for the lowest 72-hole total by a runner-up (Phil Mickelson, 2016).

“I’m proud of going 6 under in the last 12 in this golf tournament and putting some pressure on Collin,” Spieth said. “It’s hard to be upset when I was a couple over through 6. I couldn’t have really done much more after that point.”

Spieth rued the finish to his third round when he made bogey at 17 from 60 yards, taking three putts on the green to get down, and missed a 2-foot par putt at the last. That dropped him out of the final group and those two strokes ended up being the difference between a potential playoff.

“The finish yesterday, was about as upset as I’ve taken a finish of a round to the house,” Spieth said. “I walked in and I said, ‘Is there something that I can break?’ I knew that was so important because I would have been in the final group.”

British Open: Leaderboard | Best photos | Winner’s bag

Spieth didn’t cool down until after dinner. He skipped speaking to the media after his round and headed straight to the putting green to iron out his putting deficiencies. But he wasn’t done yet. He and caddie Michael Greller shared a house this week and before Greller left early for the course, Spieth grabbed his putter to continue his prep.

“I wanted to hit some putts on a putting rail that you can’t use on the greens here because there’s too much – you need flat surface,” he explained. “It’s not uncommon for me to do that.”

Spieth’s hopes for winning the Claret Jug for a second time – he previously won the title in 2017 at Royal Birkdale – took a hit when he made bogeys at the fourth and sixth holes, the latter resulting from his tee shot coming up way short in the front greenside bunker.

“It’s OK if you’re leading by three like I was in 2017, but probably very difficult when someone is going to play very well,” he said. “Kind of fatted it off 6 and went to 7 thinking, ‘OK, now we’re going for everything, and we’re going to see what happens.”

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Spieth dropped to 7 under for the championship, but he was far from done. He made eagle at the par-5 seventh to erase the bogeys in one fell swoop and played flawlessly from there. He tacked on a birdie at nine to tour the front in 1-under 34 despite hitting only four greens in regulation. He added birdies at Nos. 10, 13 and 14, but mis-read a makeable 15-foot birdie putt at 15 that left him staring at his green book trying to figure out what went wrong.

“My putting is not where I want to be at all,” he said. “I say at all. It’s progressing the right direction, but it’s not where it has been. And I know what needs to do to get there, and it’s just very difficult to do.”

But even as Spieth played Nos. 6 through 14 in 6 under to apply heat to Morikawa, the 24-year-old Californian never buckled.

“I needed a break, and I didn’t get it from him,” Spieth said. “I did all I could.”

Spieth posted four rounds in the 60s, proved to himself that his swing held up under major-championship pressure and shed some scar tissue. His finish on Saturday will sting for some time, but Spieth preferred to focus on the positives.

“I 100 percent felt like I played good enough to win this week and I haven’t felt that way in a while,” he said.

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Brooks Koepka shoots 65, thinks back-door top 10 sucks at British Open

After closing with a 65, Brooks Koepka never cracked a smile during his post-round news conferences at the 149th British Open.

Brooks Koepka is his own toughest critic.

After shooting a 5-under 65 at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, to ensure a 12th top-10 finish in his last 16 majors, Koepka never cracked a smile during his post-round news conferences at the 149th British Open and summed up his effort with a sense of disdain.

“I mean I wouldn’t call it I competed,” he said. “It was more of a back-door Top 10 maybe, so wasn’t the best.”

Koepka, 31, was lurking heading into the weekend thanks to a 69-66 start and tweeted that he was “driving into the weekend,” a cheap shot at his favorite foil, Bryson DeChambeau, who had claimed his driver sucks. But Koepka bogeyed three of his first five holes in the third round en route to shooting 2-over 72 on Saturday and entered the final round nine strokes behind 54-hole leader Louis Oosthuizen.

“Definitely a missed opportunity,” Koepka said. “Didn’t play good enough Saturday. Doesn’t really matter what I finished today. I didn’t have a chance to win. That’s disappointing.”

BRITISH OPEN: Leaderboard | Photo gallery

Koepka showed little rust despite saying he hadn’t touched a club in the two weeks ahead of the Open. On Saturday, he couldn’t fix his struggles with his irons on the fly.

“I was pulling shots with my irons just making poor swings,” he said. “It’s always something simple with me. It’s never really like swing mechanics or anything like that. It’s always setup. So, I got lined up a little right and usually when I do that, believe it or not, I tend to pull it knowing that the target is left. And just missed some shots where you can’t miss them, just some poor swings.”

Koepka’s final round may have only resulted in a “back-door top-10,” but it contained some Koepka brilliance. He played the four-hole stretch from Nos. 6-9 in 4 under, including an eagle at 7.

“Would’ve like to have the one on 18,” said Koepka, who missed a 5-foot putt at the last. “Birdie the par-5, 14 on the back, and, you know, 10 lipped out. But played solid today. Can’t complain. Just wish I could have yesterday back.”

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Koepka, a four-time major winner, limped around Augusta National on a bum leg and missed the cut at Masters, tied for second at the PGA Championship and finished T-4 at the U.S. Open. While he never seriously threatened at the British, Koepka remains one of the game’s best big-game hunters.

“I like when it’s tough. I like when everything is on the line. I like when the most pressure is on. I enjoy that. I think it’s fun,” he said.

But he has no love for the back-door top-10 finish. In fact, Koepka might say it sucks.

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British Open: Bryson DeChambeau’s driver didn’t ‘suck’ on Sunday, and neither did his score

Bryson DeChambeau ended a trying week with a bogey-free 65 at Royal St. George’s, his best score in a major.

Bryson DeChambeau’s driver didn’t suck in the final round of the 149th British Open.

A trying week for the 2020 U.S. Open champion ended on a bright note as he took advantage of calm conditions to shoot a bogey-free 5-under 65 at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.

“Finishing 5-under is a good feat given it’s the Sunday of an Open Championship, and I think that I’ll learn a lot from this going into next year,” said DeChambeau, who finished with a 72-hole aggregate of 2-under 278.

DeChambeau’s 65 marked his lowest score in his career in the majors. It followed three pedestrian rounds that had him barely making the 36-hole cut and playing out the string early on Sunday morning. DeChambeau blamed his driver for his poor performance in the opening round, saying, “it sucks,” before issuing an apology via social media in which he clarified that, in fact, he “sucked.”

Links golf has proved to be a mystery wrapped in an enigma for DeChambeau, so far. He’s missed the cut twice, finished 51st another time and was destined for a finish in the mid-30s this year as the final round continued to play out.

“It’s one of those things that for me it’s going to take time probably to learn the whole ins and outs of Open golf,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll ever figure it out, but hopefully one year I can get some of the right breaks going for me and hitting really good with all facets of my game and give myself a great chance to win an Open Championship.”

Could next year be that year? Of course, weather will play a big factor, but the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, the proverbial Home of Golf, has always been kind to long drivers from Jack Nicklaus (winner in 1970, 1978) to John Daly’s “Grip it and Rip it,” style, which won out in 1995. Rory McIlroy shot 63 in the opening round in 2010 before settling for a T-3 finish. But St. Andrews can be an equal opportunity host for major glory. The most recent winner to hoist the Claret Jug was short-knocker Zach Johnson in 2015.

DeChambeau, who in November called Augusta National a par 68, admitted on Saturday that earning the distinction of “Champion Golfer of the Year” will be his toughest task among the four legs of the career Grand Slam.

“It’s why I love it here, because of the challenge,” DeChambeau told reporters after his round. “This one keeps me scratching my head.”

On Sunday, DeChambeau made birdie at the first and took advantage of his length to birdie the par-5 seventh. He reeled off three birdies in a row beginning at the 12th. It didn’t hurt that he hit half the fairways in the final round and 15 greens in regulation.

“It’s difficult out here. You’ve got to really manage yourself and make sure you’re hitting it right parts of the fairway,” he said. “As time goes on, I’ll keep learning more and more about Open Championship style golf, and one day again hopefully I can hold up the Claret Jug. That would be awesome.”

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British Open: Collin Morikawa, one back, can make some history of his own on Sunday

Having won the PGA Championship in his first attempt in 2020 in August, Morikawa is attempting to win the British in his debut performance.

At the tender age of 24, Collin Morikawa can make his own history on Sunday at the 149th British Open.

Having won the PGA Championship in his first attempt in August 2020, Morikawa is attempting to win the British in his debut performance. Morikawa was 6 years old when another American, Ben Curtis, became the last first-time winner of the British Open – and at Royal St. George’s, no less, in 2003. No player has ever won two different majors in his first try.

“There’s a little bit of ignorance is bliss,” former British Open champion and NBC/Golf Channel commentator Justin Leonard said. “He makes the game look easy, and what scar tissue does he have? That may be one of his greatest assets.”

Morikawa, who is playing in just his eighth career major, shot a 2-under 68 at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, to improve to 11-under 199 and take his place one stroke behind leader Louis Oosthuizen. When he won the PGA, Morikawa also came from behind, shooting 64 on Sunday to erase a two-stroke deficit. No player has ever won two majors in his first eight attempts.

PGA: The Open Championship - Third Round
Collin Morikawa looks over his yardage book from the first tee box during the third round of the Open Championship golf tournament. (Photo: Peter van den Berg-USA TODAY Sports)

Should Morikawa hoist the Claret Jug on Sunday, he would become only the ninth player to win the PGA Championship and the British in a 365-day span. Only Tiger Woods did it before turning 25. He would join select company as a winner of the Open in his tournament debut. Along with Curtis, only five others have done so since 1900: Jock Hutchison (1921), Denny Shute (1933), Ben Hogan (1953), Tony Lema (1964), Tom Watson (1975) and the aforementioned Curtis (2003).

It would also be Morikawa’s second major win in just his 8th major start. That would be the fewest major starts to two major titles since Bobby Jones.

In the third round, Morikawa struggled out of the gate. He made bogeys on two of his first five holes, but as NBC’s Paul Azinger observed, “there was just no panic in Collin Morikawa.” How did he maintain his composure despite falling four strokes back at the turn before tying Oosthuizen for the lead on the 14th hole with his last of four birdies?

“It was just believing that I was still hitting good shots,” Morikawa said. “No matter what happens tomorrow, I know I produced good golf shots already this week and I’m capable of it. I just have to stick to that and believe in the process. Hopefully we can just put it together from hole 1 all the way through hole 18.”

Morikawa’s ballstriking prowess makes him a tough foe for Oosthuizen to have to stare down in the final pairing on Sunday.

“He’s a lot like Johnny Miller in his prime,” Azinger said. “He hits every shot right at the flag when he’s playing well.”

And Morikawa relishes the chance to win a second major at such a youthful age.

“The biggest thing I can draw from the PGA is just knowing I can get it done,” he said. “I don’t have much experience on links golf, and pretty much all the highlights in my head are from this week. Thankfully there is quite a few.”

And don’t expect Morikawa to do anything differently tomorrow, except perhaps get off to a better start.

“We create these routines that we get accustomed to,” he explained. “Just because it’s a major, it’s going to be a final round and we’re in contention, doesn’t mean that you have to change. I’ve built this routine and hope that it’s bulletproof.”

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Watch: Rory McIlroy throws a club as frustrations boil over Saturday at British Open

Teeing off with an iron at the par-5 hole, McIlroy tugged his tee shot towards the hay, pointed left to warn the gallery and then heaved his club with a one-handed toss down the fairway.

Frustration boiled over for Rory McIlroy at the 14th tee at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England.

Teeing off with an iron at the par-5 hole, McIlroy tugged his tee shot towards the hay, pointed left to warn the gallery and then heaved his club with a one-handed-tomahawk toss down the fairway.

“It’s happened to us all before,” NBC’s Steve Sands said during a replay. Indeed, it has.

The Northern Irishman, who began the day at even par and 11 strokes off the lead, was mounting a bit of a Saturday morning charge, making five birdies against one bogey to tour the front nine in 31, but his rally stalled on the second nine. McIlroy missed a short par putt at 11 – “it kind of killed the momentum I had,” he said – and made another bogey at 13 to drop back to 2 under. Knowing he must play flawlessly over the weekend, McIlroy had to realize the dream of posting a low one to give himself a glimmer of hope on Sunday had been extinguished.

McIlroy settled for a par at 14, made another bogey one hole later to fall to 1 under and finished with a 69.

“It’s tough to be here and just say I’m glad to be here for the weekend, but that’s the position I find myself in,” McIlroy said on Friday. He’ll play the string out on Sunday, knowing he’ll have to wait to the Masters for his next shot at ending his winless drought at the majors.

As for McIlroy’s club toss, he has thrown clubs before – most famously a 3-iron into the lake at Doral in Miami during the 2015 WGC Cadillac Championship – but never a good look. At least he followed the form of inveterate club-thrower Tommy Bolt, who instructed if you’re going to throw a club, always throw it forward so you don’t have to walk back to pick it up.

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British Open: 6-foot-9-inch leukemia survivor Jonathan Thomson dunks it at Royal St. George’s

The 6-foot-9-inch-tall Englishman is a golfer and his tee shot at the 162-yard par-3, 16th hole at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England was nothing but net.

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At 6 feet 9 inches tall, Jonathan Thomson should be able to dunk a basketball. But this Englishman is a golfer and his tee shot at the 162-yard, par-3 16th hole at Royal St. George’s in Sandwich, England, was nothing but net.

The ace vaulted him inside the cutline and helped him shoot a second-round 3-under 67 on Friday for a 36-hole total of 2-under 138.

“You dream about playing in The Open as a kid and then you come here, have a hole-in-one and make the cut, and it’s just like, wow,” said Thomson, who lifted his arms to the sky in celebration.

Asked to recount the glorious shot, he said, “The roar, the shot, everything about that hole, it’s indescribable really. It sort of was a real booster because I was grinding out there as well, to be fair. It wasn’t easy. I was playing good. I just couldn’t seem to get anything going properly. Then that happened and it was like, you know, that’s just awesome.”

The last to make a hole in one at 16 in a British Open at Royal St. George’s? None other than Tom Watson in 2011. England’s Tony Jacklin, the former British and U.S. Open champion, made the first hole-in-one shown on live television at the same hole in the 1967 Dunlop Masters.

The 25-year-old Thomson, a native of Sheffield, England, is making his major championship debut after finishing second to New Zealander Daniel Hillier in the 36-hole Final Qualifying at Hollinwell, where he is the attached professional.

Thomson first picked up a club at the age of five at Rotherham Golf Club where he practiced alongside future Masters Tournament winner Danny Willett. Thomson has the height for basketball or to be a lineman in football, but he was diagnosed with leukemia when he was seven and had to give up impact sports. After recovering from the illness at 12, he grew to become the tallest player in European Tour history in 2018 and currently ranks 889th in the world while competing on the European Tour’s Challenge Tour. So far, he has handled his big break well.

“We’ve done a really good job of taking control of this is just another golf tournament,” he said. “Obviously it is a major, but we’ve done a real good job of managing that so far, and that’s certainly one of the aims going forward, to keep on top of it.”

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Bryson DeChambeau makes the cut at the 2021 British Open, then apologizes again for saying his driver ‘sucks’

After sneaking into the weekend at the British Open, Bryson DeChambeau apologized again for critical comments about his equipment.

A day after Bryson DeChambeau ignited a controversy by saying that his driver “sucks,” the 2020 U.S. Open champion shot an even-par 70 and made the cut on the number at the 2021 British Open at Royal St. George’s.

After hitting four of 14 fairways in the first round, DeChambeau criticized his equipment and said, “If I can hit it down the middle of the fairway, that’s great, but with the driver right now, the driver sucks. It’s not a good face for me, and we’re still trying to figure out how to make it good on the mis-hits. I’m living on the razor’s edge, like I’ve told people for a long time.”

DeChambeau’s driver is made by Cobra, and the company’s tour operations manager, Ben Schomin, who caddied for DeChambeau two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, said, “Everybody is bending over backwards. We’ve got multiple guys in R&D who are CAD’ing (computer-aided design) this and CAD-ing that, trying to get this and that into the pipeline faster. (Bryson) knows it. It’s just really, really painful when he says something that stupid.”

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After Friday afternoon’s round, DeChambeau declined a formal press conference but did speak to a small group of writers and reporters, including The Guardian’s Ewen Murrey who reported DeChambeau apologized again for his remarks.

“I made a mistake and as time goes on I’ll look back on this as a growing moment for me personally,” DeChambeau said. “Hopefully I can make the right things go on from here on out. I didn’t mean it, it was in a heated situation and I feel really bad about it.”

DeChambeau went on to again explain that he let his frustration get the better of him.

“It’s one of those things in the moment. We have been working for a long time, for four years, on the driver and still haven’t had the exact one that has it work for me at 195 mph ball speed. We are still working on it and I know we will get there, it’s just going to take some time. Yesterday I wasn’t driving it particularly well and it got the best of me unfortunately.”

DeChambeau said that the incident was definitely a distraction for him after his round on Thursday and on Friday. Combined with his ongoing feud with Brooks Koepka, who shot 66 on Friday and afterward made of point of saying, “I love my driver,” DeChambeau has been in the spotlight recently for awkward reasons. It is not something he relishes.

“There are three or four things going on right now that everybody latches on to and says out there on the golf course and it is what it is. I am 27, I am human, I make mistakes. Yesterday was one of those. I continue to keep making mistakes unfortunately.”

DeChambeau will be in the second group to go out Saturday morning for Round 3 and will play with Talor Gooch. They will start the day 12 shots behind the tournament leader Louis Oosthuizen.

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Louis Oosthuizen still shining, leads Collin Morikawa and others after second round at British Open

One day after shooting a 64 that he considered to be a perfect round at Royal St. George’s, Louis Oosthuizen was nearly as good on Friday.

One day after shooting a 64 that he considered to be a perfect round at Royal St. George’s, Louis Oosthuizen was nearly as good on Friday. The 38-year-old South African made an eagle at 14 en route to shooting 5-under 65 and building a two-stroke lead over Colin Morikawa at the halfway point of the 149th British Open in Sandwich, England.

Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, has finished runner up at six majors, including twice this year, since hoisting the Claret Jug at The Old Course at St. Andrews 11 years ago. That year, he started with a 65, improved to 12 under at the midway point and raced to a seven-stroke victory.

Brilliant sunshine, part of a stretch of a streak of good weather rarely associated with the Open Championship, and a lack of wind led to record-low scoring so far. Oosthuizen’s fast start of 11-under 129 this week – he didn’t make a bogey until his 33rd hole of the championship – shattered the previous low 36-hole championship score of 130, and was just a stroke off the all-time 36-hole scoring mark at majors.

“I only heard that when I walked in, so I wasn’t aware of what it even was before. Yeah, to have any record at the Open or part of any record at the Open is always very special,” Oosthuizen said. “It was as good a weather as you can get playing this golf course. All of us took advantage of that.”

That includes Morikawa, 24, who is making his British Open debut. He played on the firm, sandy-based linksland at the Scottish Open last week for the first time and realized he needed to make an adjustment to his bag. Morikawa, who ranks first on the PGA Tour in Strokes Gained: Approach the Green, switched out his 7- through 9-iron and it paid quick dividends.

“Those are three crucial clubs that are some of my favorite clubs,” he said. “My 8-iron is my favorite club in the bag, and when I wasn’t able to hit it last week well, I knew I had to try something different.”

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Morikawa delivered a masterful ballstriking performance in the morning wave. With birdies on seven of his first 14 holes, he threatened to equal or break the record for the lowest round ever shot in a men’s major before signing for a 6-under-par 64 and a 36-hole total of 9-under 131. With a swing that a BBC announcer described as “slower than a January in Ireland,” Morikawa has taken quickly to the quirky Royal St. George’s layout.

“Being creative is what I do,” he said. “I love to work the ball. Love to figure out different heights you have to hit it, see different windows. That what’s links golf does and what it tests. I think it fits right into my pocket.”

Creativity is a hallmark of Spieth, who followed up Thursday’s 65 with a 3-under 67 in the second round to shoot consecutive rounds in the 60s for the fifth time in a major. Three of those previous four times he’s done so he’s gone on to win (T-3 at the 2019 PGA Championship on the other occasion).

“It was a round that could’ve been pretty special,” said Spieth, who began with birdies on three of the first four holes and enters the weekend alone in third place at 8-under 132. “I like where I’m at and I just have to hole a few more putts.”

Reigning U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm of Spain found his stride on Friday. He rebounded from an opening 1-over 71 with a bogey-free performance in the second round to improve to 5-under 135 in a tie with Brooks Koepka. Rahm had a 20-foot putt for birdie to shoot 63, but left it short and settled for matching Morikawa for the low round of the day as did Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo, who nearly holed out his approach at 18 for eagle.

“I think I take 64 for any round in a major,” Grillo said. “I think I’ll take 64 any day, even play with my friends.”

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson remains in the hunt after shooting 65 to improve to 7-under 133 in a tie for fourth with American Scottie Scheffler (66) and South African Dylan Frittelli (67).

Defending Open champion Shane Lowry fired 65 to make the cut comfortably at 4-under 136. Among those to sneak into the weekend play on the cutline of 1-over 141 were Bryson DeChambeau (70) and Rickie Fowler (72). Reigning PGA Championship winner Phil Mickelson and Patrick Cantlay and Patrick Reed – both ranked in the top 10 in the world – are among the big names that have the weekend off.

Oosthuizen has set a record pace, but he’s had too many close calls at majors to be caught looking ahead.

“The game is good, but I know it’s a really good leaderboard,” he said. “I have to play good golf this weekend if I want to come out first.”

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