JOHANNESBURG – South African Charl Schwartzel shot his worst-ever score in the Open Championship with a second round eight-over 78 at Royal Birkdale, in Southport, England on Friday.
Starting out on four-under following a first-round 66, the 2011 Masters champion played the first four holes in one-under to draw within a shot of the lead.
Schwartzel, however, would go on to drop over 60 spots by playing his next 14 holes in nine-over.
In the end, he finished on four-over, which should be just enough to make the projected cut.
At the 198-yard par-three fourth, straight downwind, Schwartzel nearly holed his tee shot for an ace before rolling in a six-footer for birdie to move to five-under and one behind the lead held by Matt Kuchar at that stage.
On the par-four fifth, with his approach from the left rough 146 yards out, Schwartzel missed the green to the right in some thick bush on a severe down slope.
He was forced to take an unplayable and dropped away from the bush. He would go on to miss an 18-footer for bogey, making double-bogey six.
On the par-four sixth tee, Schwartzel leaked his drive out way to the right to find another spot in some thick rough.
From there he could not reach the green, and another drop shot was the result as he made bogey-five.
He would go on to close out the nine with three pars to go out in two-over.
Charl Schwartzel speaks with Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson at the fifth hole at Royal Birkdale. Photo: Hannah McKay, Reuters
On the 10th, Schwartzel safely found the par-four putting surface with his second while both his playing partners Dustin Johnson and Rory McIlroy missed the green in regulation.
From 35 feet away, however, he left his birdie effort short of the whole and missed a putt outside 12 feet for par as he dropped another shot.
The cold putter struck again at the par-three 11th, with a three-putt from 30 feet as Schwartzel signed for another bogey.
On the par-four 12th, Schwartzel found a fairway bunker with his drive and had to chip out.
Though he hit his third shot just short of the green, he was unable to get it up and down and another double bogey was the result to drop to two-over, just over 90 minutes after being tied for the lead.
An errant drive on the par-five 15th meant another bogey for Schwartzel to sink to three-over, as he began to worry about making the cut.
On 16, Schwartzel three-putted again to fall even further down the leaderboard. Finally, he holed a four-footer for par on the last to ensure he ended a round he would prefer to soon forget.