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Only golfers would go out in that.
It was a hell of a day for it but, with the kind of gritty resolve usually reserved for the likes of the Ancient Mariner, we completed round two of a sodden, wind-ravaged Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. Within minutes of play finishing, the sun came out. Bloomin’ typical eh?
“It got to a point where it wasn’t even golf,” gasped Robert MacIntyre after a wild buffeting at Kingsbarns that was broadly equivalent to being perched in the crow’s nest of a galleon during a tempest. He may have been drookit and dishevelled but the dogged MacIntyre had emerged unscathed.
While Englishman Richard Mansell clambered to the top of the leaderboard on 10-under after a tenacious 4-under 68 over the Old Course, MacIntyre’s battling 2-under 70 a few miles down the East Neuk hoisted the Scot up 35 places into a share of fifth on 6-under.
Padraig Harrington of Ireland looks on from the 15th tee holding an umbrella in the rain during the second round of the 2022 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at Kingsbarns Golf Links in Kingsbarns, Scotland. (Photo: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
During a rancid day, it became so wet, even the laptops of the golf writers just about had moss growing between the keys. Toss in the violent gusts and it was all about clinging on grimly and limiting the damage.
Some fared better than others. Romain Langasque, who led overnight after a record-equaling 61 over the Old Course, came a cropper at formidable Carnoustie with an 80. And spare a thought for poor old Alexander Knappe, whose first four holes in a shotgun start from the 14th of the Old Course produced a five, a six, a nine and an eight. The German eventually signed for a torrid 88.
Even Shane Lowry, the recently crowned BMW PGA champion, found the going tough and toiled to a 79 at Kingsbarns to languish down on 5 over. Other star attractions like Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy sit on 2 under and 1 under respectively.
As for MacIntyre?…
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Source : yahoo
