TURNBERRY, Scotland — Retief Goosen led the South African charge at the British Open on Friday after shooting a gutsy 70 in difficult conditions at Turnberry.
He finished his second round on three-under par and is perfectly poised, sitting just two behind the leaders going into the final two rounds.
Countryman Ernie Els also battled hard to finish with a 72, which leaves him on one-over and in touch with the leaders.
Both men needed all their experience and nous to overcome the elements and tough pin positions on the Ailsa course.
Goosen believed organisers were inflicting revenge after the easy conditions on the opening day, but was delighted to respond with a fighting performance.
He said: "It was certainly very different today. I think they were getting revenge after the opening round.
"Every green was very difficult and I think they were scared that the wind wouldn't blow and there would be even more low scores out there. I think the course is probably playing about seven shots harder than yesterday.
"Yesterday you were hitting two-irons and wedges to some of the greens on the front nine while we were going in with four irons. It was a big change from Thursday and I was happy to walk away with a 70.
"I still don't think I'm playing great. But I'll do some work on the range and look forward to the weekend. Goosen won two US Open titles at the start of the decade and had the steely look of a champion as he plotted his way around the course.
He was partnered with young guns Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy but blocked them out as he went about their business.
As they shared jokes and laughed their way around the course, he barely cracked a smile or muttered a word.
In incredible scenes on the eighth, American Kim had to step away from a putt after getting a fit of giggles after sharing a joke with his caddy.
The galleries saw the funny side of a bizarre moment, as did Northern Ireland's McIlroy, but Goosen barely noticed.
"I don't know what happened there," said Goosen. "I think he was having a joke with his caddy. But I made my putt for par."
The 40-year-old started with a birdie at the first but bogeyed the fifth. He made a 20-footer on the eighth to save par and then rolled one right across the green to do likewise on the tenth.
Two more birdies followed on the 12th and 15th but he was unlucky on the 17th when his three-wood from the tee took a huge bounce forward and landed in the fairway bunker. He had to settle for a par-five and a final four on the 18th saw him finish high up the leaderboard.
Ahead of him, Els was making his way round with another good if unspectacular performance.
His languid style has always proved popular with Scottish galleries and he received vocal support on his way round.
His front nine, into the teeth of the wind, was blighted by four bogeys but he stemmed the tide with the wind behind over the closing stretch.
After seven straight pars on the back nine, he grabbed a birdie at the 17th which leaves him still in the hunt in his quest for a second Open title.
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