Golf-Sandwich brickyard working against big hitters, says Lehman

SANDWICH, England, July 15 (Reuters) - Royal St George’s “brick hard” fairways could bounce the big hitters out of contention at this year’s British Open, former champion Tom Lehman said on Friday.

The veteran American used all his links course know-how to card a second round 67 to move two-under-par going into the weekend, underlining Tom Watson’s pre-tournament prediction that a “50 something” could lift the Claret Jug on Sunday.

“The course is very bouncy, it’s just totally, completely dried out,” 1996 champion Lehman, who was joined on two-under by 47-year-old Davis Love III, told reporters.

“Whatever little moisture was on the course from yesterday is long gone, and the course is like a brick.”

With some of the longest hitters firing down near 400-yard drives in Friday’s warm and breezy conditions, the wily Lehman insists length is not everything going into the weekend.

“I’ll be honest, I think not being able to carry the ball as far actually benefits you in some ways on a lot of these tee shots,” he said.

“The balls that travel so much further in the air tend to land in spots which are a lot more bouncy, a lot more humps and bumps, and balls that fly shorter, like mine, tend to land on more the flat spots.

“That’s one thing I noticed a long time ago playing here is there’s areas shorter that are flatter and you get nice, straight bounces.

“Length isn’t really a huge advantage. There’s a couple of holes today where it might be. I saw the long guys were driving number five but I can reach the par fives.

“That’s one reason why I think the older guys or the more experienced guys or whatever you want to call it are able to do okay here. Length isn’t required. It’s more about accuracy and the line you take and hitting it where you’re aiming.”

The 61-year-old Watson also made the halfway cut but, like Lehman, he said young Americans such as Rickie Fowler were beginning to enjoy the challenge of the seaside links courses and should not be written-off.

“I heard one of the players I played with in a practice round today say, “Links golf, I love it. All we do all year is just play yardage, ball, air, flag, yardage,”” the five-times British Open champion said.

“You play these golf courses, and my very first links golf shot was right down the middle of the fairway, and I almost lost the ball, and I didn’t like it. It took me four years to start liking it.

“Sometimes the imagination comes into play big time in links golf. That’s the beauty of it.”