Andrew 'Beef' Johnston laughs off two shanks at The Open
By Keith Jackson at Royal Troon
Last Updated: 15/07/16 7:08pm
Andrew Johnston laughed off hitting two shanks on one hole as he reflected on an entertaining 69 in wet and blustery conditions on the second day of The 145th Open at Royal Troon.
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Johnston opened with the same score in Thursday's sunshine, but he was soon back to level par after bogeys at the first two holes before he hit back with three consecutive birdies and added another at the Postage Stamp eighth.
But the Englishman was yet another in a long list of players to come to grief at the intimidating 11th, where he shanked two three-woods and ran up a triple-bogey seven.
However, Johnston steadied himself with three pars and then reeled off another three straight birdies from the 15th before a par at the last got him into the clubhouse on four under, just six adrift of leader Phil Mickelson.
"It's been like that the last two days on this course, it's been strange," said the Spanish Open champion.
"I started off all right, and I got into the fourth on Thursday, and then I was just in the rough down the right and I hit the most pure shank I've ever hit. I haven't hit one since I was like 12 years old, and I lost the ball.
"After that I flushed it and I didn't miss a shot, really. It was sort of kind of similar today until I got on 11, I pretty much shanked two three-woods. It was odd to see, two funny ones and then I bounced back again."
Asked about his chances his lifting the Claret Jug on Sunday evening, the popular 'Beef' added: "There's a long way to go, it's not even worth thinking about. I've just got to go out and play, see what happens after that and evaluate after the third round and go on from there.
"But why not? I think you've got to believe - if you're in the tournament, why can't you win it? But it's miles off. We've still got two rounds to go, so there's no point in even thinking about it."
Johnston has earned a reputation as one of the biggest new characters on the European Tour, becoming a huge hit with golf fans all around the world, and he is enjoying his popularity.
"Yeah, I love it. I dreamt of it as a kid," he said. "Playing in these events and people shouting your name. I absolutely love it."