Gary Woodland was in the right rough on the 13th hole as he stared at the green, trying to figure out how to play his next shot. Then he broke into a big smile, and it had nothing to do with anything at Royal St. George's on Saturday.
Beyond the green is a fence, and on the other side is Prince's Golf Club.
It was pouring rain. The gusts topped 30 mph. And the club next door was filled with players in every fairway. Woodland smiled at the idea that while those competing at the British Open were suffering, these people were finding pleasure.
''I was shocked,'' he said. ''There's no way back home people would be playing today. And it was packed over there.''
Even more impressive were the number of fans on such a miserable day.
Matt Millar was the first to play, in the worst of the weather, yet he was followed around by fans who took their hands off the umbrella long enough to applaud whatever good shots they saw.
''I just can't believe how many volunteers, spectators, people who were just so encouraging. Would you spend your free weekend out there on this weather? There's nowhere like it in the world, that I've seen,'' Millar said. ''That made it a lot easier to keep your head up and keep battling on.''
Most telling was Woodland's adventure on the 14th hole.
After Woodland's first tee shot went out-of-bounds, his next one went 50 yards to the left in grass so high that not even spectators walked there. A search party of nearly 40 people scoured the rough until they found the ball.
That begged this question: For an American who is not well known in these parts, who barely made the cut and was in the fourth group out, on the farthest end of Royal St. George's, why were there that many people following him in the first place?
''These fans are unbelievable,'' Woodland said. ''For them to be out there watching, it was good to see.''
KEEPING DRY: Ryan Moore started out with six small towels and one big towel. After 18 holes, all of them were wet. Defending champion Louis Oosthuizen didn't wear any extra layers except for his rain suit, and he kept his towels to four for the round.
That was the trick for the players who faced the worst of the weather in the morning — staying warm and staying dry.
''That's why I just laughed, because I've never played in it like this,'' Oosthuizen said. ''Whenever you have social rounds and it just starts raining a little bit, you say, 'I'm out of here, boys.' But I couldn't do that today.''
Oosthuizen shot 74.
