American David Toms, spurred on by a five-birdie
barrage in eight holes around the turn, vaulted up the Open championship
leaderboard on a sun-kissed Friday at St Andrews after a second round of 67.
The 33-year-old from Shreveport in Louisiana
began the day three shots off the lead but, by the close, he had moved to
eight-under-par 136 at the tournament's halfway stage.
Playing in his first Open championship, Toms
collected birdies at the fifth, seventh, ninth, 11th and 15th holes without
dropping a shot all day.
"I played extremely well and didn't really come close to a bogey. I could even have had more birdies," he
said afterwards.
"I'm still learning about the course and, if the weather turns, it's going to be a lot harder for me to work out the shots.
But, for now, I'm just happy to have played well today."
Toms, who has won three times on the US Tour
since turning pro in 1989, said he had been unconcerned with what other
players were doing out on the course.
"I haven't been paying attention to the leader board at
all," he said. "I was just doing the best I could, trying to figure out how to play the holes here with my
caddy.
"That is what I have been doing since
Monday, trying to figure out the best way. It has not been too difficult to figure out where to
go.
"I felt good about my game coming in but did not really know what to expect from the golf
course, the whole place in general. And my first goal was to play the
weekend, just to have that experience with all the people out there at a major championship.
