Blown Away at St. Andrews


The third round of the Open Championship Saturday endured a 10-and-half-hour delay due to high winds at the Old Course at St. Andrews and officials finally decided to cancel play. As a result, for only the second time in 144 tournaments the major will have a Monday finish.

At the end of Saturday, Dustin Johnson, who had completed a 69 in the morning, held the 36-hole lead at 10-under 134. One stroke further back was England's Danny Willett, who also shot a 69, while trailing Johnson by two was Scotsman Paul Lawrie (70).

Johnson, who lost the U.S. Open last month at Chambers Bay to Jordan Spieth in heartbreaking fashion after three-putting the 72nd hole, posted three birdies on the front nine and two bogeys and a pair of birdies - including the 18th hole - for a one-stroke lead heading into Sunday's third round.

"This morning when we started it was almost impossible, but I managed to hang in there and then when we just went out and restarted it was very tough, but managed to make some good pars and then birdie the last hole," Johnson told the European Tour's website. "So it was a good way to finish the day."

Sharing fourth at 137 are Scotland's Marc Warren (69), Australians Adam Scott (67) and Jason Day (71), South African Louis Oosthuizen (70) and Americans Zach Johnson and Robert Streb, who each shot 71s in blustery conditions.

Officials decided to postpone the start of the third round as balls on the greens were being blown off the putting surfaces. Though rain is in Sunday's forecast, the winds are expected to be less than the 50-mph howlers that swept the course on Saturday.

Spieth, who has won the first two majors this year, posted a 72 Saturday along with his opening 67 to enter the third round at 5-under 139 along with major champions Geoff Ogilvy, Charl Schwartzel and Justin Rose, and Sergio Garcia.

"It was an interesting round that took a lot of time, but it's nice to look back on Saturday evening and instead of being five shots back with one to go, I've still got two full rounds, so anything can happen here," the 21 year old Spieth said.

"I believe I'm still in contention. I still believe I can win this tournament. I need a really solid round tomorrow, though, because Dustin is not letting up. Dustin is going to shoot a good round tomorrow with less wind and I'm going to need to shoot a great round to really give myself a chance.

"To fall from two back to five back isn't exactly what I wanted, but it could have been worse, could have been better. If I can shoot something like 10-under in the last two rounds, I think I'll have a chance to win."

For all the scores, visit http://www.theopen.com/leaderboard#!/traditional.