George Coetzee celebrated his 28th birthday with a thrilling display in tough conditions on day two of The 143rd Open Championship to close to within one shot of Rory McIlroy’s overnight lead.
Coetzee, playing in his fourth Open, started the day on two under par but, after an eventful morning at a windswept Royal Liverpool Golf Club, the burly Pretorian heads into the weekend on five under and in contention to land a maiden Major.
Having reached six under par courtesy of his fifth birdie of the day on the 15th hole, Coetzee’s mood was perhaps tinged with disappointment after signing for a 69 which included back to back bogeys from the 16th.
But a closing birdie for a 139 aggregate total at the midway stage of the £5.4 million event has Coetzee well placed to launch a tilt at the Claret Jug over the weekend in Hoylake.
Coetzee, who revealed he would celebrate his birthday with “a couple of Cokes”, said: “This is definitely my favourite Major. It’s obviously nice to play well in a very prestigious event. And to have my birthday coincide with it is also nice.
“I flew my mother and girlfriend in on Wednesday night, and they got here yesterday morning just in time for the first round. So it’s nice to share my birthday with them, and obviously it was nice to play good golf for them.
“I enjoy links golf, it’s more fun. Obviously you can’t control your ball as well as you would on a parkland golf course. But I just think it’s a lot more fun and you get to use your imagination a bit more.”
