Leader Oosthuizen is the only celebrating at the Open

FROM THE SCOTSMAN WEBSITE
By Martin Dempster
The 150th Anniversary Open Championship was supposed to be a celebration. The only problem is that, one person apart, no-one has really had much reason to be in party mood at St Andrews so far this week. The planning had been meticulous but the weather in these parts can be brutal. First the Champions Challenge on Wednesday was washed out then, for the first time in more than a decade, play was halted in the world's oldest major due to wind gusts of more than 40mph.
With Louis Oosthuizen, a 27-year-old South African, no doubt rubbing his hands with glee after posting a record-equalling 12-under-par halfway total before it turned nasty, overnight leader Rory McIlroy and world No1 Tiger Woods were among those who'd just started their second rounds when, due to golf balls starting to move on greens around the 'loop', the klaxon sounded to halt proceedings on the Old Course.
"We had no option but to suspend play. Gusts reached in excess of 40mph, causing balls to move on the green," said David Rickman, the RandA's director of rules and equipment standards, of a decision that halted the action officially for the first time in the event since similar wind-inflicted problems at Royal Birkdale in 1998.
Balls were also moving on the greens at the Southport course in the third round two years ago but, on that occasion, there was no official suspension.
For McIlroy in particular, the delay here didn't last nearly long enough. While it was debatable if the wind had dropped at all, the players were back out after one hour five minutes and no-one suffered more in the testing conditions than the 21-year-old, who'd made it look so easy on the same hallowed links with his 63 the previous day.
In nine rounds on the Old Course, McIlroy had shot 69 or better each time. Revenge must have been sweet for the world's most famous links as he was sent tumbling down the leaderboard in painful-to-watch freefall. He eventually signed for 80, so still hasn't shot in the 70s here.
Due to the delay, it was nearly 6pm before the last of the 52 groups teed off and, with rounds taking five hours, 10 groups were back at 6.30 this morning to complete their second rounds.