Still, Oosthuizen is already in the record books. His 129 shots – 64, 65 – beats the previous best over the first 36 holes of this championship by one. It is within one of the finest Friday night score in any major. It is just that things looked as if they could be so much better for Oosthuizen as he eagled the 14th to move to 12 under par. He instead closed one stroke shy of that mark on account of a bogey at the 16th, his only scorecard blemish of this Open so far.
“I’m in a good position,” said Oosthuizen with typical understatement. “The game is good, but I know it’s a really good leaderboard. I have to play good golf this weekend if I want to come out first. Around this golf course, a lot of things can happen. I don’t think you want to think too much about winning on a links course until you get to that 18th green, and hopefully you have a lead.”