Butch Harmon
Golf Columnist
Phil Mickelson the man to beat at Royal Troon, says Butch Harmon
Last Updated: 16/07/16 4:30pm
Butch Harmon reflects on Phil Mickelson's impressive start to The 145th Open and warns not to write off Dustin Johnson's title challenge at Royal Troon...
The 145th Open
I think we've seen two very different days. Thursday was a perfect day where it was warm and the wind going out made the course a lot easier. We saw Phil Mickelson tie the Open record round and have a chance for a 62, where he hit a heck of a putt which didn't quite make it.
The second round was totally different, as the wind completely switched directions and it was cold and rainy. Even with those poor conditions though, the golf has still been very good. Ten under par is leading heading in to the weekend, which is pretty darn good after two days here.
"For Phil Mickelson not to win this tournament I think he's going to need to have a bad round and right now I just can't see that happening."
Butch Harmon
If you look at Dustin Johnson starting out, his swing was a little out of sync on Thursday. He did some good work on the range with Claude while I was on TV and said he warmed up well. He started his second round a little iffy, and after managing to knock it to three feet at the first hole he still missed it.
After that though, he started to settle down and got himself back up to two under. He's a long way behind, but he still has two rounds to go and he has the tendency to get better each round.
He's still going to be there or thereabouts come Sunday night. The course suits him as he can use the driver when he needs to and can hit irons off the tee.
What we're seeing with DJ, especially since he won the US Open, is that he's playing with so much more confidence. He's feeling so much more relaxed in his game and I think he's going to make some sort of charge on Saturday.
I love the way Henrik Stenson plays golf and I think he's one of the best players in the world . It appears at times that his concentration lapses and that often hurts him a little bit over 72 holes, but he has handled the elements and mentally stuck to his job.
Before it started I was never going to pick my guys as that's not fair, but I always felt Stenson was one who could impress and right now he's making me look good!
Links golf will sort you out and if you're not 100 per cent in control of what you're doing in your swing and control of the ball, it will get you as you can't fake it around here.
You could tell last week at Castle Stuart though that Mickelson, who shot 66 in the last round, was trending in the right direction heading in to this week. He did what you have to do in Links golf on Thursday in hitting most of the fairways and only taking 26 putts, which is what you have to do to shoot a low round.
Mickelson looks awfully good right now and is in complete control of his game. I love that how he has really adapted to playing links golf over the past four years or so.
He's not trying to overpower the golf course and is really taking what the course is giving him. He's putting beautifully and he's the most creative guy I've ever seen play golf, as his short game is phenomenal. I think he's going to be hard to beat.
For Phil Mickelson not to win this tournament I think he's going to need to have a bad round and right now I just can't see that happening.
Watch The Open throughout the week on Sky Sports - your new home of The Open
