SOUTHPORT, England – Bubba Watson fared the best of the Bulldog foursome playing in the Open championship at Birkdale, making the cut, and standing at even par for the tournament.

“Par, golf over here the last two rounds is not that bad,” he said after the round.  “I’ll take my chances with even par.”   He was not in the best of moods, not wanting to meet with the half dozen reporters who had gathered, admitting that he was not reluctant because of his up and down round of the third major championship of the season.  He then explained.  “I just hate coming up here.  It is the same questions week after week.”

Watson shot a 72 on Friday and begins play Saturday six shots behind Jordan Spieth.

Brian Harman struggled badly amid the wind early in the day Friday and suffered three bogeys and a double bogey in the first nine holes. He carded a 78 and missed the cut by three shots.

Watson’s explanation for having a challenging day had to do with the wind, noting that unless you are out there on the golf course swinging  a club in competition, you can’t appreciate the fickleness of the winds.

“You can imagine how brutal it can be.  I made the cut and that means I am playing pretty good,” he said.  “The wind direction changes so often.  You gotta have a lot of luck.  You got to trust your numbers (yardage estimates) but even so, you are playing in very tricky conditions.”

His parting shot was an underscoring of his earlier statement that he was very happy to be par for the tournament at this point.