Things were so wet at St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, the club shafts of the players just about had barnacles clinging to them.
Only golfers would go out in that. Then again? As Storm Amy came barging in during day two of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, the meteorological misery didn’t deter a couple of hardy swimmers who plunged into the North Sea for an invigorating dip.
One presumes they peered over to the drookit activities on the Old Course amid their gasps, chitters and frantic breaststrokes in the waves and said, “Look at those idiots playing golf.”
It was a hell of a day for it. Things were so wet at St. Andrews, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie, the club shafts of the players just about had barnacles clinging to them.
Toss in the increasingly boisterous gusts, which rent brollies asunder, and it was all about clinging on resolutely as faces became contorted in grimacing, jaw-jutting defiance.
When play was finally suspended just after 4 p.m., even the klaxon made a gurgling sound.
Before proceedings were brought to a halt, Robert MacIntyre had made a telling advance up the leaderboard as he stood up to the challenge with spirited resistance.
His six-under 66 in the quite desperate conditions at Kingsbarns was a terrific display of craft and control as he harnessed the elements to fine effect. MacIntyre was home but certainly not dry.
That admirable effort hoisted the Scot onto a 12-under aggregate and into a share of the clubhouse lead with South African Richard Sterne.
The pacesetting duo was sitting a shot ahead of Louis Oosthuizen, the Open champion at St. Andrews in 2010, who posted a 68 at Kingsbarns.
“It was almost a perfect round of golf and that’s as good as I’ve controlled my ball in a long time,” cooed MacIntyre, who is aiming to become the first Scot to win the Dunhill Links title since Colin Montgomerie in 2005.
In this links golf masterclass, was there one shot that stood out? “Aye, the 4-iron into six,” added the 29-year-old.
“I’m standing on that hole with the wind out of the right and all I’m seeing is gorse bushes up the left from 185 yards.
"I’m just trying to chip draw this 4-iron. As soon as it landed, I said to my caddie, ‘That’s the perfect golf shot.’
“We are in a good spot and I’m right there where I want to be. I’ve not had the greatest record around these places but hopefully we can change that this weekend.”
MacIntyre’s group included tennis great Andy Murray and the Oban lefty had complemented his fellow Scot’s flair in a different ball game.
As the weather deteriorated, MacIntyre said to Murray, ‘Now, this is the test.’
Moments later, Murray shanked an attempted escape from the bunker and buckled over laughing. It’s a humbling old game, eh?
Over at Carnoustie, Scott Jamieson manoeuvred himself into contention with a battling four-under 68 for a 10-under total.
It’s not been a vintage campaign on the DP World Tour for Jamieson. The 41-year-old from Glasgow has made just one cut in his last eight events and is scrambling to safeguard his full playing rights as he languishes down in 119th spot on the rankings.
The Dunhill Links, though, has been the saviour of plenty of toiling players down the seasons with a prize pot that’s almost as big as Michelle Mone’s PPE repayments.
A high finish on home soil could be his salvation. Jamieson, who started on the back nine, made purposeful strides on that stretch while the weather was still half decent.
Birdies at 12 and 13 were followed by an eagle on the 14th and another birdie on 17. As the wrath of old Amy began to build, Jamieson double-bogeyed the second but repaired some of the damage with a birdie on the next hole.
“I’d seen the forecast so I knew a fast start was required and then I would just have to batten down the hatches coming home,” he said.
“In conditions like this, it's so easy for things to spiral out of control without doing a great deal wrong, so I was delighted to hang on to four-under.”
The changing conditions were perhaps best illustrated by the eventful round of Englishman Nathan Kimsey over the Old Course.
After a run-of-the-mill par on the opening hole, Kimsey mounted a thrilling assault and birdied nine holes in a row from the second to equal the DP World Tour record for successive birdies.
What the golfing gods giveth, they taketh away, though. Turning into an increasingly lively wind, Kimsey leaked shots at 11, 12, 14, 16 and 17 during an inward half of 40 for a four-under 68.
Due to the suspension, a number of groups were still to finish round two. It resumed at 8 a.m. in a shotgun format with round three also featuring a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m.
That’s if Storm Amy behaves herself, of course.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Robert MacIntyre is weathering all storms at the Dunhill
Category: General Sports
