England's Willett takes British Open lead after storm relents

England's Danny Willett joined Dustin Johnson at the top of the British Open leaderboard on Friday after the weather gods played havoc with the tournament at St Andrews, forcing a delay of more than three hours.

The storm that had been forecast to sweep in from the North Sea arrived on time just as the first group of players reached the first green and they rushed for cover.

Groundsmen worked feverishly to soak up the many puddles of standing water that made it look, at one stage, like play could even be abandoned for the day.

But the Old Course with its sandy, links base remarkably held up and play got back under way at 10:00 am (0900GMT).

America's big-hitting Johnson had the first round lead after an opening seven-under 65 but his afternoon tee-time has been pushed back to 5:48 pm in the company of history-chasing Jordan Spieth.

Willett quickly joined Johnson at seven-under with a birdie at the second and he was joined on that mark shortly after by 2007 Masters winner Zach Johnson with a birdie at the par-five fifth.
Spieth, seeking to add the British Open crown to the Masters and US Open titles he has already won this year, started with a 67.

Tiger Woods was due out 22 minutes after his two fellow Americans, needing a round in the mid to low-60s just to stand a chance of making the cut.

If he fails to do so it would be the first time in his career that he had missed back-to-back cuts in the majors, following his horror show at last month's US Open.

Friday morning's heavy rain softened the greens, making them more receptive for the players, but the wind was getting up and was forecast to increase during the day.

Home fans had something to cheer about, with in-form Scottish player Marc Warren birdieing four, five and seven to make it a four-way tie for the lead at seven under.

Willett then went clear alone, after narrowly missing an eagle attempt at the fifth.

India's Anirban Lahiri was at four under with a birdie at the first hole.

The 28-year-old from Pune has won twice this year already on the European Tour and is aiming to beat the best-ever performance by an Indian at The Open championship - Jyoti Randhawa's tie for 27th in 2004 at Royal Troon.

Johnson had a packed leaderboard stacked up behind him at the start of Friday's action.

Standing one back of him was a six-strong group consisting of home favourite Paul Lawrie, Australian shotmaker Jason Day, South African veteran Retief Goosen, plus early starters Willett and (Zach) Johnson.
Source: AFP