Golf, The Open, 2nd round: Migliozzi passes the cut, F. Molinari eliminated

The games are not yet done for the first part of the Open Championship number 151, which archives two laps by selecting who will have access to the weekend. And who knows, to the dream of becoming Champion Golfers of the Year. The two players from Italy, between the morning departures, have meanwhile returned, with good and bad news. First the second.

bean out

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Francesco Molinari finishes his fifteenth Open Championship here. A difficult start with a missed shot when the putt does not enter from two meters, but slips from the same distance on hole 4 and evens the score. Drive on the track and green taken up to 12, where he is out of position with the first and second shot, and does not recover. He plays from the start on the cutting edge but this bogey takes him back twenty positions; from then on he misses four more shots and recovers one at the last one. At Royal Liverpool he stops with a score of 73-75 (+6) when the projection of the cut is +3. “A few bad swings, three very similar shots to the green that cost me dearly,” he says. “I haven’t made any plans for the near future yet, now it’s time to switch off for a few weeks of vacation, we’ll see at the end of the season”. Someone asks him where and when he missed his stellar game. “If you knew…”, he replies. “Golf is like that, the margins are small and it’s difficult for anyone to have a career with consistent results. You do your best and try to navigate the ups and downs.”

Predictions for the upcoming Ryder Cup? “Americans are always favorites in the rankings on the eve, but things don’t always go like this. And then we play at home. There are still a couple of unallocated places in the European squad and I think of Guido; the state of form with which you arrive at the Ryder Cup counts a lot, so a good performance here at the Open and continuity in the approach could play in his favor ”.

i drive in

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The good news comes from Guido Migliozzi. His excellent performance for the first two rounds can be admired on the leaderboard of the best, between the numbers in red. With 69-72 he is a shot under par for the total, which earns him the thirteenth position (still partial), on a par with important people such as McIlroy, Homa, Fitzpatrick, Matsuyama, Young. But the pro from Vicenza is the only one on the course to have played 32 holes without missing a beat (yesterday’s round and today’s first 14 holes), a really difficult undertaking on a windswept course where the ball is at the mercy of unpredictable rebounds and where the bunkers are infernal traps. It means having a precise plan, playing with intelligence, discipline and patience, and knowing how to execute every shot as you imagine it. The two bogeys arrived right at the end, but with a masterful approach to eighteen he recovered one and returned under par. “Two great rounds with a solid game, but it’s difficult to have birdie chances here, so I preferred safety by looking for the center of the greens rather than the rods; unfortunately I took the bunker with the drive in two par 5s. I always tried to have a lot of calm and a lot of patience. The focus for the weekend is to continue like this, shot after shot. And then I like to shoot the ball low in strong winds,” he said.

fun

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To understand his attitude on the pitch, you have to go back to his debut on the major tour in 2019 when he immediately won two titles, the key? “I enjoy it,” he said. Today on the tee of the hole one said to his caddy: “It’s the British Open, it’s sunny, we’re playing on Friday, so let’s have fun. I don’t want to go onto the field with the thought of passing the cut, on the contrary I try to aim high, I want to have fun and enjoy what I’m experiencing now”. Tomorrow? “I will have to be patient, play my golf and bring home a good result”. Come on Guido.