Goal is to finish in upper half of the leaderboard

I am sure a lot of my friends could have heard my sigh of relief halfway across the world. When I walked off the course with a nice long putt that nearly went in from almost a 100 feet and just off the green, I thought it could be touch and go (about making the cut) at five-over. But I also knew the conditions were getting tougher with the wind and glassy greens.

Four-over would have been safe, but as things turned out, even six-over went through, as Jordan Spieth, the leader, who ran away on the first day at six-under, came down to four-under. With top-50 plus ties and 10 off the lead getting into weekend action, six-over, too, made it.

Its always nice to make the cuts at Majors, which is the goal of all professional golfers, but having crossed that first step, it is now a matter of improving on that getting closer to the upper half of the leaderboard. I am playing the third round with two-time Major winner, Martin Kaymer.

Spieth still leads at four-under and Rory McIlroy is one behind him, while Danny Lee and Scott Piercy are at two-under for 36 holes. The fact only seven players in red numbers, indicates how tough the golf course is playing. And there lies the challenge.

However, I had mixed feelings at the end of the second round. My game was quite decent, but it was just I was not scoring, as has been the case last few weeks. I hit well enough to create opportunities but did not hole the putts. And then of course, one always needs the rub of the green, too, on  a golf course.

On Friday, after a good start, when I holed two nice putts from around 15 feet and then more than 20 feet, I was in a good spot. And despite a bogey another birdie had me two-under for the day when I came to the 13th tee, the first of the two par-fives on the back nine.

Scoring on the par-fives is so important and I have not had much going for me there. On the first day, I parred all four so I did want to make up.

I don’t think I did much wrong. It was just that things didn’t go my way. On the 13th approach I caught the gust and it went over the green, and on the 15th, I played for the wind, but it went through and over. In both cases I ended with bogeys. In fact I lost two shots, where I ought to have gained at least one, if not two. That’s a pretty big swing, if you notice and in a tight event like this it makes a lot of difference.