Impending weather apocalypse could mean good news for Zach Johnson
ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – It's about to get nasty.
Weather defines every British Open. How well you play is largely a function of whether your tee time offers you a gentle Scottish breeze to join you on your way, or delivers you into the teeth of a knifelike North Sea wind. On Friday, Mother Nature is looking to drop a finishing move on the Home of Golf, and hole scores are going to start looking like phone numbers.
Take a look at the forecast, provided there in that handy screenshot from the Yahoo Weather app (which you really should have). There'll be rain in the morning, a brief spell of calm in midday, and then demon wind starting at 2 p.m.
So let's take a look at the leaders. Dustin Johnson (-7) tees off at 2:34. He's pretty much screwed. Robert Streb (-6) begins at 12:17, so he'll have a couple hours of relative calm before the anarchy starts. Retief Goosen (-6) goes at 12:50, Paul Lawrie (-6) goes at 2:45, Jason Day is in the next group at 2:56. Danny Willett (-6) goes off at 8:11, so he'll have some heavy rain for the first half of his round.
Right there with Willett, but with substantially more major experience, is Zach Johnson, who goes off at 8:00 with a 6-under score. That could leave Johnson in sweet position coming into the weekend.
Asked whether he'd looked at the weather, Johnson didn't hesitate. "I check it out probably every day, but it's probably smart to check it out like the next hour or two," he laughed. "I remember when I got my tee times, I'm like, sweet, that's the good side. Well, it may not be. Who knows? You just never know."
Trouble is rolling in. Anybody left standing after Friday will have earned their British Open stripes.
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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter.
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