2014 British Open: Live scores, leaderboard updates and more from Friday’s second round at Hoylake

There’s a Tiger Woods superfan at the Masters who can always be counted on to man his post behind Augusta’s 16th in his big tiger t-shirt. But this British Open Tiger fan is far more dedicated, and creepy.

via Steve Flynn-USA TODAY Sports

It was another interminable day at Royal Liverpool, where Rory McIlroy extended his lead and now sits on top of the British Open by four shots at 12-under. The course played a little tougher in the second round, and there were plenty of ugly shots and impressive recoveries. Here are some of the best and worst moments from Friday at Hoylake.

It wasn’t the low round of the day, but once again Rory McIlroy posted the smoothest and most impressive score. McIlroy has had this weird tendency to implode on Friday, and that trend received all the attention this week and on Friday morning. His first-round scoring average is the best on the PGA Tour at 68, but his Friday average is 181st at 73. He’d blitzed the course in the first round at Memorial, Quail Hollow, Augusta, Doral and Sawgrass, only to give it all back and more the next day. Then last week’s 64-78 at the Scottish Open happened, and Rory admitted the Friday “curse” was in his head.

With 36 holes in the books, the British Open is ready to head to the weekend and there will be a major change in protocol when it does. With extended hours of daylight, the field always starts its round on No. 1. Tee times go from the early morning to the mid afternoon, every group teeing off the first hole. That will change on Saturday when for the first time in the 143-year history of the Open, the championship will use split tees.

The R&A made the decision to send players off No. 1 and No. 10 due to thunderstorms in the forecast. Weather is always a factor in the Open, but rain and wind are very different from thunder and lightning. Players simply can’t remain on the course during a thunderstorm. Using split tees and playing in groups of three, will help get the players on the course quicker and get through the round even with potential delays.

The British Open field has been cut down for the weekend with all players finishing at 2-over or better making it through to the final 36 holes. On Thursday night, it looked like the cut line might settle right around even-par or even slightly in the red, but the conditions toughened up for the second round and it hovered around 2- and 3-over all day.

The player most under the cut watch spotlight was Tiger Woods, who made it with a birdie on his last hole of the day. It was a startling and sudden tumble for Woods. He began the day in a tie for 10th place, but a double bogey on the first hole and a bogey on the second promptly pushed him back to level par. A string of grinding pars then brought him to the 17th, where he bombed one way out of bounds and seemed to check out on the whole tournament altogether. After hitting his provisional, Tiger would go on to make a triple-bogey and just like that he was on the wrong side of the cut line, needing a birdie to stay the weekend.

The afternoon, with strong winds blowing, was supposed to be the toughest time at Royal Liverpool on Friday. The morning wave played through some gusty conditions with several players struggling to post red numbers. The wind was supposed to continue and with the course drying up, the afternoon wave figured to be in store for a brutal round. Then, the wind died down and the late players went pin seeking. That’s just the nature of the British Open.

Rory McIlroy was among the players who took advantage of the afternoon conditions. He began the day in the lead and that’s exactly where he remained. Although he started with a bogey, it was his only dropped shot of the day and he carded seven birdies on his way to a second straight 66. Friday has been a troublesome day for McIlroy this year, but he overcame those demons to increase his lead to four strokes. At 12-under, he’s in great position heading into the weekend.

The British Open is the only major that never has to send players off of split tees, a tradition upheld by the R&A thanks to the hours and hours of sunlight in the UK this time of year. Even when the field is at its full 156-man limit, players all go off the first tee in almost 10 hours of rolling tee times, from 6:30 am. local time to 4 p.m. The first two rounds are often the longest golf days of the year, and it’s a pretty nice tradition.

But the news out of Hoylake on Friday night is that the R&A will indeed send the smaller weekend field off two tees for the third round because of thunderstorms in the forecast.

Tiger Woods, a day after making his many critics eat their words by putting up an opening-round 3-under 69 at the British Open, flirted with missing the cut in a major for the fourth time in his professional career.

“Not very good,” Woods told reporters about his play on Friday after posting a 5-over 77 to end his two days at Hoylake exactly on the projected cut line of 2-over. “I got off to a terrible start again and I had some opportunities to make a few birdies along the way ... I just never did.”

Rory McIlroy’s struggles on Friday this season have been well documented. The former No. 1 player in the world is 9-over in his second rounds this season, compared to 90-under in the other three rounds. Those issues left plenty of skepticism heading into the second round, even after he shot 66 to take the first-round lead. Whatever plagued him in the past was not an issue on Friday at the British Open. McIlroy not only remained in the lead, but he increased his advantage thanks to a 6-under round of 66.

McIlroy is 12-under through 36 holes and five shots clear of the field. The weather conditions, especially the wind, let up a bit in the afternoon and McIlroy took full advantage. He was dialed in throughout the round, hitting a number of exceptional approach shots. At times he drove the ball beautifully, allowing him to attack pins. At others, he was a bit errant. Either way it didn’t seem to matter. McIlroy hit a number of terrific recovery shots, like this one from the thick rough at No. 10 to set up one of his seven birdies on the round:

Sooooo, Tiger Woods, who started the day in the top 10 at the British Open, just made a checked-out triple bogey at the 17th hole. That puts him at 3-over for the championship ... and suddenly outside the current cut line with just one hole to play. As you can imagine, he’s running a little hot down this finishing stretch.

At the 17th, Woods bombed his drive way out of bounds and by the time he got up to the green playing his second provisional ball, he looked totally indifferent to what score he actually carded on the hole. There was a flubbed chip and a casual lag putt and then boom, all of a sudden he’s making a 7 and in danger of going home early.

The British Open is so unique in so many ways, but Jordan Spieth’s bunker shot in the second round may be the best 15-second summation of the course setup and golf at this major championship.

Bubba Watson’s parting shots at the media on his way back to the alternate reality in which the two-time Masters champion resides after a short stay at the British Open was a reminder that it’s often better if athletes just shut up and play.

Indeed, the way Watson, who finished two rounds at 4-over, with the projected cut line at 2-over, blasted those who coo about him as well as take him to task for his yahoo-ism and seemed to indicate that his stay in the U.K. was about as much fun as his travels in France a couple of years ago.

John Daly is warming up at the British Open and once again he’s raised his pants game. The tournament has already seen Daly boasting both Spongebob and busty women pants, and now he’s gone peak Daly with a collage of naked women.

These pants are oddly appropriate for the British Open. They look like something that’s come straight out of a 1960s James Bond opening montage. Staring at them just makes you want to throw on some blasting Shirley Bassey tunes and float away.

Rory McIlroy has cast aside the Friday troubles that have plagued him all season, and looks to be working on another trademark blowout major win. McIlroy gave a shot away on his first hole of the day, prompting chatter and a re-hash of all the terrible second round scores he’s posted this year after lighting it up on Thursday (1st round average: 68, 2nd round average: 73).

But that’s the only shot Rory has given back so far, and he recovered from it with three birdies on the front nine to get to 8-under. He’s ahead by two, in total control of his game, and rather enjoying this stress-free major championship stroll.

Golfers enjoy making birdies on the greens, but what about when there is an actual bird on the green? Rory McIlroy has had a little bit of both on Friday as he was joined by a pheasant on the eighth green.

Fittingly, McIlroy went on to make birdie on the hole. Birds for everyone. Nice little fella too.

Tiger Woods made a very strong charge up the back nine in the first round and if he’s going to open the weekend in contention, he may need a similarly strong second nine on Friday. Woods made the turn at 3-over on his round and is even for the tournament, seven strokes behind Rory McIlroy’s lead.

Just like he did in the first round, Woods got off to a very rough start. He launched his tee shot on No. 1 way left. He then played from thick rough to thick rough to thick rough on his way to a double bogey. He dropped another shot with a bogey on No. 2 to quickly move to 3-over on the round. The first two holes have been an issue for Woods. He played them at 2-over in 2006 and is now 5-over on the first two this week. Woods wasn’t able to get any of the dropped shots back on the front nine, closing the half with seven straight pars. Woods did most of his damage on the back nine in the first round with five birdies. If he finds similar success in the second round, he could close in on McIlroy and the other leaders. If not, he’ll either have a lot of work to do on the weekend or potentially even miss the cut if he limps in.

Excuse me, you can bring the cellphone in but the hog will have to stay outside.

Hoylake seems like the pretty fun place!

The afternoon wave is taking its turn at Royal Liverpool and depending on how the late groups fare, a couple big names may take an early exit from the 2014 British Open. Bubba Watson is among the players who could be set for a short stay in England as he’ll need help to make the cut.

Birdies are becoming more rare as the second round goes on, but the cut line remains at 2-over. There are currently 76 players at 2-under or better, leaving the possibility that the cut line will move at least a stroke. Royal Liverpool is playing more difficult on Friday than it did on Thursday and only getting firmer as the round progresses. It wouldn’t necessarily be a surprise to see the cut line move to 3-over and even 4-over is a possibility depending on how things go.

The British Open is always the best major championship for garish and eccentric attire. It’s still early at Royal Liverpool, but these fellows are the early leaders for the most unique and random outfits.

And yet, there was no Batman in sight.

Despite playing much of Royal Liverpool very well, the first hole hasn’t been a strong point for Tiger Woods. Even when he won the British Open at 18-under in 2006, he played No. 1 at 1-over during the week. The hole caused issues on Thursday with Woods opening the tournament with a bogey and the problems were even worse on Friday.

It started off the tee where Woods yanked one way left and onto the wrong hole. His ball cleared the left rough, flew over a rail separating No. 18 from No. 1 and settled into the thick junk that lines the 18th fairway.

Tiger Woods, about a year ago, made it clear he was no fan of Rickie Fowler’s flat-brimmed Puma golf cap. While the hat style may be all the rage among 20-something golfers, and Woods’ green neon-striped golf shoes were definitely a different look for the former No. 1, neither fashion statement went over well with legendary but fusty BBC commentator Peter Alliss.

“I’m not sure the hat does anything for him, just my opinion,” the 83-year-old winner of multiple events on the European circuit said on ESPN as Fowler prepared to tee off in Friday’s second round of the British Open. “It’s the style of it, the cut of it, the shape of it. He’s the only one with this sort of shaped hat or head maybe. I don’t know.”

Here’s a quick way to make a move up the leaderboard.

Sergio Garcia started his day by yanking his first drive way left over some fencing and onto the wrong hole. The shot was so bad and so far right, however, that he got a good lie on the next fairway and was somehow able to get up to the green to make a lucky par.

If Phil Mickelson is going to successfully defend his British Open title, he’ll need to make a serious run up the leaderboard on the weekend. The defending Open champion had opportunities to make up a lot of ground on Friday, but couldn’t quite put a complete round together and instead settled for a 2-under round of 70.

Although the score wasn’t bad, especially in tough conditions, it was very close to being significantly better. He got off to a fairly good start with a birdie at No. 4 and an eagle at No. 5, moving him to even for the tournament. Those, however, proved to be two of just three red numbers on the round. Mickelson hit the ball very well at times -- including an absolutely perfect approach at No. 7 -- only to miss opportunities with his putter. Mickelson’s hot putter was a major part in him winning the Claret Jug last year and it just hasn’t come around this year. It wasn’t just the putter causing issues, however, even his famed short game failed him at times, like at No. 8 when a poor chip led to a bogey:

Not sure how this happens, but apparently Tiger Woods’ golf shirt for the British Open’s second round is too small. Tiger was having issues with the shirt on the driving range, tucking, untucking, and adjusting after every shot. ESPN actually discussed the matter for a minute or so, while Paul Azinger urged him to change it and Peter Alliss cracked wise. Whoever tailors his Nike gear has already been fired.

Golf!

The wind is howling on Friday at the Open Championship, presenting an entirely different test for the afternoon wave that’s getting set to tee off at Royal Liverpool. The leader, Rory McIlroy, may be out in the second wave but the headliner will still be Tiger Woods.

The 14-time major winner will tee off at 9:05 a.m. ET back in the states, or 2:05 local in Hoylake with Angel Cabrera and Henrik Stenson. ESPN will once again put their “Tiger-cam” into effect for Woods’ second round, tracking his every shot via online stream on ESPN3/WatchESPN.

Tiger Woods warned us he was ready to contend at his first major championship of the season. But did those of us who said we should expect little from the former world No. 1, picked him to flame out of just his second start since March, or rolled our eyes when he boasted he would finish “first” this week at Hoylake listen?

After he put up a 3-under 69 in the first round of the British Open on Thursday, the answer of course seems as obvious as Tiger’s automatic response to the traditional question of what he would consider an acceptable outcome to any tournament he enters.