Marc Warren was delighted to continue his excellent recent form as a second round 69 left him firmly in contention at The Open Championship.
A closing 64 saw the three-time European Tour winner finish fourth in last week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, his third top-ten finish of the season.
And by reaching seven under par at the halfway stage at St Andrews, where more than three hours was lost first thing this morning after heavy rain, Warren was just one off the on-course pace being set by Danny Willett.
“I’m delighted with that,” said Warren. “It was a long morning; I’d just started my warm-up in the rain and the good news came in about the delay.
“I’m delighted that the delay was long enough than when we did tee off it was pretty much dry conditions and just the wind we had to battle.
“We’ve got a soft golf course in great condition so it was just the wind we were battling today.”
Warren had three birdies in four holes from the fourth, but bogeyed the short eighth after failing to get up and down and, after a birdie on the tenth, three-putted the 11th.
But the 34 year old finished in style with a gain from six feet at the last.
“It was [important] – I hit a good tee shot there,” Warren said of his closing birdie. “It’s always a great feeling to birdie the last at St Andrews.
“The weekend of The Open at St Andrews – it doesn’t get much better.
“The game is in good shape. Hopefully I’ve put myself in a good position and I’ll give it my best, see what happens.
“I’m relishing the opportunity to play here at the weekend.”
