Van de Velde tames the Carnoustie beast

The beast of Carnoustie bared its fangs again on Friday but Frenchman Jean Van de Velde seized the second round lead with the best round so far at this British Open, a three-under-par 68.

Angel Cabrera of Argentina was second one shot behind on 144 after defying a stiff wind for a 69 on the 7,361-yard course.

Twice runner-up Jesper Parnevik was right on their tails another stroke back following a 71 - after almost retiring with hay fever.

Tiger Woods and Greg Norman moved into contention alongside Patrik Sjoland of Sweden one more adrift as the wind, which flared up after a morning calm, kept many scores high and produced more frustration for Spanish wonderboy Sergia Garcia.

The 19-year-old student, touted as golf's new star, could only improve by six shots from his first-round 89, his 83 giving him a 172 total for last place in the 154-man field.

Rodney Pampling of Australia became the only first-round leader ever to miss the halfway cut as he soared to an 86 after his opening level-par 71 for a 157 total that was two shots too many.

Britain's three-times champion Nick Faldo missed the cut for the first time in his career, rounds of 78-79 ending his string of 23 successive weekend appearances.

Another three-times champion, Seve Ballesteros, crashed out as did Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal, five-times winner Tom Watson , defending champion Mark O'Meara, 1996 champion Tom Lehman, U.S. PGA champion Vijay Singh and U.S. Open runner-up Phil Mickelson.

World number two David Duval just made the 154 cutoff after believing he would miss out when he completed his 75.

Van de Velde, however. was composure personified as he capped his fine round with birdies at the 16th and 18th holes to take over at the top with a total of 143, one over par.

The 33-year-old Frenchman's round was virtually without a blemish. He even birdied the ltough 578-yard sixth with a drive, a four iron, a seven iron to 30 feet and one putt.

A 15-footer at the next produced another birdie and his only mistake came at the par-three 13th, at 169 yards the shortest on the course, where he struck his shot short into a bunker.

But he rolled in a 30-footer at the 16th and hit a wedge to four feet at the last.

"I played to make pars and if the putts dropped, fine," the Frenchman said.

"It's only Friday," he cautioned. ``But this will make big headlines in France and teach them that this is really one of the most popular games in the world.

There has been only one French winner of the Open, Arnaud Massy 72 years ago in 1907.

Cabrera, whom his compatriots call "El Pato" - ``The Duck" - is revelling in the Carnoustie atmosphere - and the weather.

"It is tough. But things are going well. I feel comfortable," added the Argentine European Tour player, runner-up in the Irish Open to Garcia two weeks ago.

His last putt had stopped short of the hole and he was walking towards it to mark it. "Then the wind blew it in," he said.

Parnevik, 34 and runner-up in 1994 and 1997, has hay fever which almost forced him out at the sixth hole until a marshal offered him some medication. He birdied the next two holes and eventually carded a 71.

Woods and Norman also had less of the wind to contend with as they started early in the day. World number one Woods, the 1997 Masters champion, battled for a one-over-par 72 after a bogey at the last.

Norman's brilliant 70 contained three successive birdies from the 12th but was scarred sadly by a triple bogey seven at the 17th.

Woods was two under for the day through 10 holes before giving the shots back on the second nine with four bogeys on the last eight holes against just one birdie.

"I hit a lot of good shots. Some of them didn't get good results. That's the way it goes," he said.

He birdied the first and fifth holes from 30 and 15 feet, three-putted the seventh but made another 30-footer at the eight.

He found bunkers at the 11th and 12th, birdied the long 14th but overhit the green at the 250-yard 16th and missed the green at the last.

Norman's triple bogey came after he drove into deep rough just nine feet off the fairway.

He could not see the ball and his first slash at it failed to move it. His second attempt shifted it across the fairway, his next shot finally got him back on the fairway and he needed three more shots to get home.

"I can't ever remember not being able to see the ball before," he said. "I'm going to have to classify it as an air swing.

"Three paces off the edge of the fairway and I couldn't move the ball. In my estimation I don't think that's the way the game should be played," he said.

Earlier the 1986 and 1993 champion played near-flawless golf with a birdie and 10 pars through 11 holes and then three successive birdies.

Reuters