Mostly benign weather conditions throughout the day Friday at St. Andrews led to some good scoring opportunities and a number of players were able to move up the leaderboard. It was Cameron Smith’s turn to go low and he shot an 8-under 64. He was able to stretch out to 13-under on the week and is two shots ahead of first-round leader Cameron Young.
Smith came out hot with birdies on each of his first three holes on his way to an opening nine 5-under 31. He then added an eagle at the par-5 14th when he drained a long putt of over 60 feet. Young had a good round of his own on Friday and the two Camerons will tee off together from the final pairing on Saturday afternoon. They’ll follow two stars in Rory McIlroy and Viktor Hovland, the other two players starting the weekend double digits under par.
In total there are 10 players within six shots of the lead and with weather conditions expected to be quiet on Saturday and even more so on Sunday, we should see an opportunity for some really low rounds. I’ll still be shopping for value going into moving day as I think there will be some players from the back moving into position for top finishes even if they are too far back realistically to win.