ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND // Ross Fisher's name was added to the list of victims at St Andrews' 17th hole yesterday. After climbing to four under with four birdies in six holes Fisher, the man who led the British Open early in the final round last year, hit a five-iron over the green and over the wall out of bounds. "I slightly misjudged the wind; it went dead straight," he said. He came back from his double bogey with a closing birdie for a 68 and three-under total, but it was not the 65 he thought could revive his title hopes.
The 17th was not all that Fisher, 29, has been unhappy with this week. The Volvo World Match Play champion added his voice to the criticisms of Royal and Ancient Club officials over Friday's suspension of play for 65 minutes because of high winds. "Nobody knew what was going on and from a player's perspective it was a little bit disappointing that there was a breakdown in communication," he said. "I heard three different times [for a restart]. At 3.25pm I came out thinking 'what's the story' and a woman said we were to be in position at 3.35.
"We didn't get much time to loosen up. There was a distinct lack of communication." Steve Tiley, 27, the Challenge Tour player, had a day he will never forget. Joint third with Paul Casey and Lee Westwood on six-under par overnight, the unheralded Englishman ended it two over but came away convinced he was a lucky man. "Not many people play the Saturday of the Open," he said. "I made the cut. It could have been worse: I could have been packing my bags."
Returning to the 11th tee at 6.30am as one of 30 players unable to finish their second rounds on Friday night, Tiley double-bogeyed and then dropped five more shots for a 79 that saw him survive the axe with only a shot to spare. "I just couldn't make a par," he said. "I tried my hardest, but the last eight was panic really. "After a couple of three-putts I suddenly couldn't stop making bogeys however hard I tried. That's just golf. When it goes it goes."
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