He looked dapper in his cardigan, but it was his calm in the face of a near-disastrous start on Friday which most impressed observers about Thriston Lawrence’s round of three-over-par 74 in the second round of the Open Championship at Royal Troon.
The seemingly unflappable 2022 South African Open champion made bogey on the first and double-bogey on the second in the toughest conditions the Scottish summer has delivered so far on the Ayrshire coast.
Like many of his more illustrious competitors, he could have let things slide from there. Instead, he made 13 consecutive pars in conditions that were trying enough to see the likes of Rory McIlroy miss the cut at 11-over-par, and someone like Matt Fitzpatrick sign for a second-round seven-over-par 78.
Then he dropped a shot on the par-five 16th, which, with the wind unusually helping the players on the homeward nine, was perhaps the easiest hole on a very difficult course. He pushed his approach into the right rough, and then hacked out into the semi-rough on the left of the green. He got to within 11 feet with his fourth shot and left his par-putt inside a foot short.
He followed that with a brave pars on 17 and, after a magnificent 347-yard downwind drive on 18, he hit his approach to inside seven feet. He made the birdie putt, and he finished the day with a three-over-par 74. That took him to three-over-par for the championship, and a share of 27th going into the weekend.
Darren Fichardt also fought hard, balancing his three dropped shots with three birdies to card a highly creditable level-par 71 to make the cut on the number at six-over-par in a share of 69th.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout’s three-over 74 wasn’t enough to see him into the weekend, and 2010 champion Louis Oosthuizen had a one-over 72 which saw him miss the cut too.
Amateur Altin van der Merwe perhaps missed the company of Ernie Els in the second round after the Big Easy withdrew for a tweaked back which will also see him miss next week’s Senior Open Championship. Van der Merwe carded a three-over 74 which saw him miss the cut at 11-over through 36 holes.
Sunshine Tour Order of Merit winner Ryan van Velzen had a five-over 76 in the second round to slip to 13-over in his first major championship.