Ernie Els began the long climb back to try to close the gap between him and Tiger Woods with a second-round five-under 67 at St Andrews on Friday.
It put the South African at three-under for the championship and three behind Woods, but the world number one had still to tee off.
”I still made a lot of mistakes, but I had eight birdies. I’ve got to be happy about it,” said Els, who opened with back-to-back birdies.
In overcast conditions, and a slight breeze, it was just the start the South African needed.
Els refuses to concede that Woods was too far ahead to be caught.
”There are a lot of holes to go,” he said.
Former Masters champion Phil Mickelson, who has only ever had one top 10 finish in the Open, got off to the worst possible start when he bogeyed the opening hole to drop back to three-over for the championship.
A birdie at the second got the dropped shot back, but with eight shots between him and Woods, the left-hander still had a mountain to climb.
But Mickelson reached the turn in two-under 34. He continued to pick up shots and by the time he reached the 16th tee he was three-under for the tournament.
Australian Mark Hensby, who began the day only one behind Woods, had a nightmare second round as he quickly fell off the leader board.
He reached the turn in a mind-numbing six-over 42.
Hensby began bogey, triple bogey, birdie, triple bogey. Although he then settled down, the damage had been done.
World number two Vijay Singh began his round two off the lead, but as he walked off the 13th green, he had closed to within one.
An army of players, including Retief Goosen, Luke Donald, Jose Maria Olazabal, Scott Verplank, Chris Riley, Trevor Immelman and Peter Lonard, all carded four-under 68 and have late starts on Friday.
One player who won’t be playing in the second round is American David Toms.
The former United States PGA winner was on his way home to the US after disqualifying himself.
Toms believed he may have hit a moving ball while holing out for a double-bogey six on the 17th hole of his first-round 74 on Thursday.
The US Ryder Cup star said: ”It was just one of those iffy areas about whether or not a rule was violated and I was the only one that saw it.
”I just felt it was better that I disqualified myself.”
Toms had been among the leaders after playing the first 10 holes of his round in three under par, but took a double-bogey six on the 13th and another on the 17th when the possible infringement occurred.
He added: ”I might have hit a moving ball when I went to tap-in.
”I didn’t go through my normal routine and it happened so fast because it was for double bogey. It was just one of those things and I’m not sure exactly what happened.
”The more I thought about it, there was too much uncertainty and I thought it was better that I disqualified myself. I was probably the only one able to do that.
”It was a disappointing end to a disappointing day altogether, but I had a great time here; what a great place to have a golf tournament. I’m looking forward to next year.” — Sapa-AFP