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If it’s in the middle of a major, Louis Oosthuizen must be at the top of the standings.
The South African Open and 2010 Open winner set a tame Royal St. George’s again on fire on Friday, scoring a -5 to go with Thursday’s -6 for a two-stroke lead on the pitch . This sets up another weekend where Oosthuizen will perform in one of the last groups, another opportunity for Oosthuizen to shed the bridesmaid tag that is almost tattooed on her forehead.
Oosthuizen has now finished second in six different majors, including the most recent two. Phil Mickelson held him at bay at the PGA Championship in May, while Jon Rahm caught and passed him at the US Open last month.
On Thursday afternoon, Oosthuizen addressed the double-edged nature of coming close without winning:
“It gives me confidence for the majors knowing that I am still competing and still have chances of winning,” he said. “But yeah, once the week starts I have to get that out of my mind and focus on every round and every shot.”
Oosthuizen, now the +250 favorite to win at BetMGM, used a combination of steady controls, precise iron play and dead shots to blaze just ahead of Collin Morikawa, who had posted a -9 lead at the clubhouse and is now +450 up for grabs.
Elsewhere, Royal St. George’s played softly and tenderly. More than 50 players finished below par before the weekend. Jordan Spieth (+500 to win), looking to bring home a second Claret Jug, finished with a 67 to sit three shots behind Oosthuizen. Rahm (+1400 to win) finished with a 64 in the afternoon, leaving him six strokes behind Oosthuizen. Also in the race to -7: Dylan Frittelli, who only entered the tournament as a substitute, and Scottie Scheffler, who has never won a PGA Tour event.
Further in the rankings, the drama continued between Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka. After DeChambeau made waves on Thursday by bringing his own sponsor to his knees while complaining about his driver, Koepka happily fired another passive-aggressive salvo:
The Open Championship goes on all weekend and the weather is expected to be very different from the Open… so the scores should continue to drop.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter at @jaybusbee or contact him at [email protected].
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