OPEN: Leishman set to attack the weekend

BY BRENDAN JAMES at ROYAL TROON

MARC Leishman will ramp up his attack on the Royal Troon course this weekend as he tries to chase down the leader of The Open Championship.

The Victorian has hit the ball well for two days but is yet to fully benefit from his superb tee-to-green game. Two bad swings on Thursday were costly but there were no bad ones in his second round two under 69, which leaves him at one over and 11 shots behind halfway leader Phil Mickelson.

Of the 70-odd players who played throughout the afternoon wave, Leishman’s two under was one of the best.

Marc Leishman played through tough conditions on Friday but still shot a two under 69.
PHOTO: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images.

But, he admits, if he is to make an impact on the leaderboard over the weekend he will need to show some “conservative aggression” and take on the Royal Troon course, which is the game plan he adopted after two rounds of the Open at St Andrews last year.

Interestingly, he is the same score after 36 holes here as he was in 2015, when he was nine strokes behind midway leader Dustin Johnson before shooting 64-66 in the final two rounds to reach a play-off for the Championship.

“Yeah, there's just nothing to lose,” Leishman said. “You can't win The Open if you're sitting at home on the couch on Saturday and Sunday when the leaders are playing.

“Obviously, I'm in a pretty similar position as I was last year, long way back. I’ve got nothing really to lose.

“I'll probably play a little more aggressive, but still conservative aggression. You don't want to do anything stupid. I'll have to make a lot of birdies on the last two days if I'm going to contend again.”

Leishman broke scoring records over the weekend at St Andrews last year, a feat he will try and emulate over the next few days.
PHOTO: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images.

Having played through the toughest conditions on both days, Leishman will have a mid-morning tee time when the weather is forecast to be partly cloudy with only a light breeze. It will be the first decent conditions the 32-year-old has played under in this championship.

“I'm happy with where I'm at as in my game. I'm not happy with being just inside the cut line,” Leishman said. “But if the weather does what it's predicted to do and a little calmer tomorrow morning and then its supposed to pick up, who knows what might happen.

“I've just got to keep doing what I'm doing and try to give myself putts at it and keep the bogeys off the card, which I was able to do today, which is big in links golf.

“You can hit a bad shot and make bogeys and worse really quickly. So to keep the bogeys off on a day like today, that gives me confidence.”

After drying out his gear, Warranambool’s favourite golfing son was was looking to find somewhere to watch the remainder of the second round on TV and relax.

“We haven't got the Tour de France or the golf on TV where we are staying,” laughed Leishman, who said he wouldn’t be venturing to one of the dozens of local pubs looking for a tele. “That could be dangerous … no … early dinner and early to bed again and try to get a good night's sleep and hit a low one tomorrow.”