5 things to watch for on Open Championship weekend: Will Louis Oosthuizen hold on?

2. Are the lesser-known players in contention going to hang on?

On the flip side of the coin from the stars in contention at The Open Championship, there are also some lesser-known golfers who are in the mix after 36 holes. Dylan Frittelli is tied for fourth with DJ and Scheffler and some might put the South African in that category. But even lesser-known are guys like debutant Daniel Van Tonder, Andy Sullivan and German Marcel Siem who are tied for seventh, five strokes behind the lead.

One of the big narratives coming into The Open at Royal St. George’s was the caliber of player who won at this venue the previous two times it was played here, Darren Clarke (2011) and Ben Curtis (2003). Both golfers were substantial (like, really substantial) longshots coming into the tournament but overcame those odds to capture unlikely wins. So we all wondered if we would see something similar this week.

Given the heavy-hitters who are in contention, that seems less the case. However, it does make you wonder if the guys like Van Tonder, Sullivan and Siem, among some others, are going to hang around and make things interesting. People always talk about the pressure of being in contention at a major and how players in that position for the first time could struggle. But at this course and in the conditions we’ve seen, you have to wonder if another longshot is going to be heard from on the weekend.