A week after getting his home fans all excited, Scotland’s Marc Warren is at it again this week.
Last Sunday, the 34-year-old Warren surged into contention late in the Scottish Open at Gullane with a brilliant closing round of six-under par 64, but that eventually fell short by two shots against Rickie Fowler’s late birdies.
But on the biggest stage in world golf – the Open Championship at St Andrews – he made sure he kept in touch with the leaders with a round of three-under par 69 to go with a first-round 68.
At seven-under par, Warren is just two shots behind the clubhouse leader Danny Willett. Yesterday, he dropped shots on the two par-3s – both measuring 174 yards – but picked up five shots elsewhere in a day of solid ball striking.
In the US Open last month at Chambers Bay, Warren finished tied 27th and was on the first page of the leaderboard after the first couple of days. And the man with three European Tour wins said he was getting used to the big stage.
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“The more I am used to playing tournaments like this, and yes, the US Open was good, I got my name up there early on the first couple rounds and overall had a really good week there, a good week last week as well, really good finish, the more it gets comfortable for me,” said Warren, who is now ranked 56th in the world.
“I feel as if I’m pretty close to top 50 in the world. I have played a lot of world events and a couple of majors already this year. Well, this is my second major of the year. But I do feel comfortable. My game is in really good shape.
“I feel totally at ease on the golf course, just battling the golf course and the conditions more than anything else. Certainly, I wasn’t battling myself anymore out there.”
What did players do during this morning’s rain delay? Marc Warren says he dozed off while watching reruns of Everybody Loves Raymond.
— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelESPN) July 17, 2015
Although Warren has dreamt of winning the Open all his life, he is not getting carried away with his chances, saying: “I’ve got absolutely nothing to lose this weekend. I’m just enjoying the situation I’m in.
“I’m pretty relaxed at this moment in time. I know it’s very early days as far as the golf tournament goes. There are only two rounds gone. This is a situation and something everyone who has played golf as a kid dreams about. To live out at least a part of that dream is also pretty cool.”
