South African Oosthuizen hits front as weather bites at St Andrews

Jul 16, 2010, 14:55 GMT

St Andrews, Edinburgh - Little-known South African Louis Oosthuizen hit the front at the British Open at St Andrews on Friday thanks to a 5-under-par 67 but brutal winds caused play to be suspended midway through round two.

The 27-year-old reached the turn in 3-under-par and picked up two more strokes on the back nine to add a 67 to his first-round 65, giving him a halfway score of 12-under-par.

That was good enough to put him three shots clear of overnight leader Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who was just beginning his second round when officials ruled conditions unplayable because of high winds, which were moving the balls around on some of the more exposed greens.

Former champion Mark Calcavecchia moved up to third on 7-under-par with a 67 of his own, while Englishman Paul Casey (69) and Lee Westwood were tied on 6-under-par.

World No 1 Tiger Woods, who fired a 5-under-par 67 in round one, had just teed off in his second round when play was suspended.

The wind was not too much of a factor early on and though there was plenty of rain, Oosthuizen coped better than most, with a birdie at the last putting him on 12-under-par and top of the leaderboard.

The South African has missed the halfway cut in each of his three previous British Opens but was confident he could perform well over the weekend.

'It's probably the position anybody wants to be in,' he said. 'It's what we work to achieve and I'm very happy.

'St Andrews is where it all started. Everybody dreams of winning The Open, but to win it at St Andrews is just ... you never really think it'll happen.'

Like Oosthuizen, anyone already in the clubhouse with a decent score was in an excellent position, including Casey and Westwood.

Casey was heading for a near-perfect round of golf when he arrived at the 17th hole 5-under-par for the day, 8-under in total, but he managed to triple-bogey it, before getting one shot back with another birdie at the last.

'It was a very good round of golf,' Casey said. 'I got stuck in the ugliest rough on this golf course. I wanted to take no chances but I still had to take two shots to get out of the rough and ended up with a seven.

'It's a bit frustrating but it's a Major championship and it's going to test you.'

Westwood continued to battle the pain of an ankle injury and played beautifully, only for a series of birdie putts to miss the whole by millimetres.

'I got nothing out of that round and played a lot better than 71,' he said. 'Sometimes you don't get what you deserve though. I've played a lot better than my scores suggests. If I was sitting here at 10, 11 or 12 under then that would reflect the way I've been playing.

'I think I'll be there or thereabouts, my score certainly suggests that but I just have to keep doing what I've been doing. I'll keep having treatment on the ankle, it's just a case of managing it at the moment.'