Miguel Angel Jimenez, who at 49 is trying to become the oldest player to win a major, took the lead Friday after 36 holes in the oldest major championship in golf. Jimenez, nicknamed the Mechanic and dubbed the Most Interesting Man in the World for his free-spirited ways that usually involve cigars and wine, shot an even-par 71 to stand alone at 3 under 139.
He leads a group of some of the game’s best players by one shot — world No. 1 Tiger Woods (69-71), Westwood (72-68), Dustin Johnson (68-72) and Henrik Stenson (70-70).
“I think it’s one of the most difficult tests that we’ve had,” said Mickelson, who had a four-putt on No. 15 en route to a 74 that left him at 1 over.
And the first two rounds might be the easiest the players will see the course this week. The forecast calls for two more days of dry heat that will burn out the course even more. Yet to be determined is how much water tournament officials will put on the greens, if any.
“This course will get nothing but tougher and tougher,” said Graeme McDowell, who is 4 over after a 71. “Literally anything a little under par could win at this point. We saw how difficult it can be (Thursday). After (Friday), I’d imagine they can sort of let the hand break off and let the golf course accelerate away from us. It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend, but I don’t expect the scoring to be much better.
