Standout Open Stats So Far...

With the Open Championship at the halfway stage, we take a look at some of the more interesting stats from the opening two days

With half the field making their way home, it seems like a good time to take a look at some of the facts and figures after two days of Open action...

• Former champion Louis Oosthuizen was the only man not to score a birdie on the opening two days of the tournament. He did however make a hole-in-one on the 14th on day one, his second ace in three Majors. At No. 14 in the World Rankings, he was the highest-ranked player to miss the cut.
• The luck of the draw came into play as conditions suited early starters on Friday. Just four players broke par from the early/late side of the draw (Patrick Reed, Byeong Hun An, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler), while 22 golfers are in the red from the late/early side.
• 67 and 85 – Billy Horschel’s first two rounds. The American was well set at four-under when he teed off on Friday but he caught the worst of the conditions. He started the back nine with a run of bogey, bogey, double bogey, triple bogey, double bogey, coming home in 46.
• The six hardest holes have come on the back nine, confirming what everyone knew that the way home is a brutal test. 523 birdies and 10 eagles were scored on the front nine compared to just 303 birdies and 5 eagles on the way back.
• 11 – The hardest hole of the opening two days. 18 of the 35 scores of triple bogey or more came at the 482-yard par 4. The par-5 4th played the easiest with 110 of the birdies scored here.
• 0 – The number of amateurs to make the cut. England’s Scott Gregory ended on 9-over and Italy’s Stefano Mazzoli ended 12-over meaning the Silver Medal for best amateur will go unclaimed this year.
• Jason Day finished the day one-over meaning he currently has the longest stretch of consecutive cuts made in the Majors (15).
• The statistics bear out the change in conditions over the two days with just 53% of greens hit in regulation on Friday compared to 63% on day one.
• Four players have missed the cut in the first three Majors this year – Ernie Els, Robert Streb, Chris Kirk and Steven Bowditch. It was the first time for Els in a career spanning over two decades.