Surprise lead for SA's Oosthuizen

ST ANDREWS, Scotland (AP):

South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen surged to a five-stroke lead in the morning, then watched from the comfort of his hotel as first-round leader Rory McIlroy and many others stumbled in the blustery conditions yesterday.

The flags flapped wildly, caps blew down the fairways and there were 80s all over the scoreboard, including one by McIlroy's name.

The 21-year-old hotshot from Northern Ireland went from the lowest score ever in a major championship to an 8-over 80. No other player has ever taken a bigger tumble after shooting 63 in one of golf's biggest events. It left him with an 11-shot deficit heading to the weekend.

Despite sunny skies mixed with puffy white clouds, officials decided the Old Course was unplayable because the wind was gusting to 41 mph, causing balls to wobble on some of the exposed greens, especially those along St Andrews Bay.

Second-round play was suspended 1 hour 5 minutes at mid-afternoon, shortly after Phil Mickelson finished his round in brutally tough conditions and Tiger Woods had teed off.

Very difficult

The last wind delay at the British Open was at Royal Birkdale in 1998, when gusts reached 40 mph, forcing a 38-minute stoppage during the second round. No one seemed more hurt by it than McIlroy, who had parred the first three holes. After the delay, he bogeyed No. 4 - and three of the next four holes as well.

"It was just very, very difficult out there," McIlroy said. "I just let it get away from me a little bit."

During the break, players returned to their lounge near the first tee to wait for conditions to calm. Caddies sprawled on a grassy knoll, munching on sandwiches and bananas. Some fans claimed a patch of ground and caught a nap.

Oosthuizen, a 27-year-old from Mossel Bay whose given name is Lodewicus Theodorus, shot a 5-under 67 for a 12-under 132 at the midway point of the tournament. He was done before McIlroy teed off, hoping to put up another solid round after tying the major-championship record with a 63 on Thursday.

Not in these conditions.

Mark Calcavecchia, trying to strike another blow for the senior circuit, was closest to Oosthuizen among those in the clubhouse. The 50-year-old American shot a 67 that left him at 137, with Lee Westwood and Paul Casey another shot behind.

Woods held on in wind that was gusting more than 30 mph even after play resumed. He bogeyed the first two holes, but a fortunate break at the par-5 fifth helped him pick up his first birdie of the day.

His second shot was sailing right, toward the treacherous rough, but the ball struck a golf cart loaded with television equipment and stopped in the short grass. Woods was able to get up and down from there, leaving him 4 under for the tournament as he approached the midway point of his round.

Woods nearly finished with a flourish, driving the green - the ball skidding about a foot wide of the flag - on the par-4 18th hole. He missed the 20-footer for eagle but tapped in for birdie at a 73 that kept him in contention for the weekend, though eight strokes behind Oosthuizen.

Woods going for third straight

Woods is trying to win his third straight Open at St Andrews, having romped to victories in 2000 and 2005. Before he putted out, Tom Watson made what was likely his final walk over Swilcan Bridge. The 60-year-old who nearly won last year at Turnberry was likely to miss the cut after shooting 75, but he paused to kiss the famous stone walkway and posed atop it long enough for everyone to get a picture.

The weather made it a typical British Open roller-coaster of a day. The early starters found blue skies when they arrived, but heavy rains rolled in shortly after the start of the round. The sun peeked through the clouds again, then more showers struck just before noon.

"I got up this morning and it wasn't looking real pretty at 4:30," said Calcavecchia, who played in the first group. "It was actually beautiful when we teed off. Then we saw a little bit of everything."

Oosthuizen wasn't worried about any of that, and he was already done when the wind started to blow around lunchtime.