Martin Should Make Cut at British Open

Clemson, S.C.—Former  Clemson All-American Ben Martin shot a two-under par 70 at St. Andrews in Scotland on Friday and should make the cut at The Open Championship.  A weather delay in the morning that led to a three hour delay will prohibit the second round from being completed on Friday evening.

Martin, who had an early tee time, was under the cutline in 62^nd place at even par when play was halted at just past 10 pm local time.

Martin  got off to a bad start with a bogey on the first hole in his second round.  He fell to 129^th place in the field of 156 golfers at that time.  But the native of Greenwood hit a hot streak and made birdies on five of seven holes to go from three over for the tournament to two under.   He was as high as 24^th on the leader board at one point.

Martin double bogeyed the difficult 17^th hole, known as the “road hole,” but he finished with a birdie on the final hole to shoot 70, his third round of 70 at the British Open in his last four rounds.

Martin shot a 74 in the first round and stands at even par with a 144 total through 36 holes.  On Friday he hit 75 percent of the fairways, 78 percent of the greens and had an averaging driving distance of 289 yards.

This is the second time Martin has made the cut at the British Open in two attempts.  Last year he finished in a tie for 26^th with a 284 score, four-under-par, at Royal Liverpool.   Martin is now four-under-par for six career rounds at the British Open.

Martin is just the second former Tiger to make the cut at the British Open after an opening round score of 74 or higher.  Lucas Glover did it in 2008 when he had a 78 in the first round and a 71 in the second round to make the cut at Royal Birkdale. 

This is the second straight Major that Martin has made the cut.  He missed the cut at the Masters in April, then made the cut at the U.S. Open.  He is already qualified for the PGA in August.