British Open

In the lead is five time British Open Champion Tom Watson, who at the age of 59, is atop the leader board tied at five under par with fellow American Steve Marino.

"To be doing what I'm doing out here, making a few lucky putts here and there and still feeling like I have a chance to win, that's pretty cool," said Watson after his round on Friday. "I am still competitive... it doesn't surprise me that people in their 50's can still compete against the kids."

And one of those kids is 24-year-old Martin Kaymer of Germany who is coming off back-to-back wins on the European tour with victories at the French open two weeks ago and the Scottish Open last week.

He is currently four strokes off the lead at one under par. While the opening round conditions on Thursday were ideal, Friday's round, which was windy with hints of rain, was more typical of the British Open.

"It played totally different today but I like it like this," said Kaymer. "You have to see it as a challenge, see how you can manage the wind. It is a major, the best field all year long, it should be difficult and we (professionals) should show what we can do."

As the weekend begins, one of his biggest obstacles was removed when the world's number one ranked player Tiger Woods did not make the cut and headed home to Florida.

"I was playing well the first seven holes, right there in the championship," said Woods. "I played poorly in the middle of the round."

It is only the second time that Tiger has missed the cut on in a major tournament.

Kaymer has been having fun at the tournament and some have even compared him to the other German champion Bernhard Langer.

He is also enjoying the praise that is coming from some of the biggest names in golf.

"It's nice to go to tournaments and have big names coming up to you," said Kaymer who is ranked number 11 in the world. "Ernie Els came up to me in the locker room and said: 'Well done the last couple of weeks,' it's awesome."

av/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Trinity Hartman