Andrew Johnson tries to ramp up crowd noise after surging to shared lead at British Masters
Friday 14 October 2016 14:24, UK
Andrew Johnston called for his fans at The Grove to "make some noise" after he surged into a share of the early second-round lead at the British Masters.
The fan-favourite delighted his legion of fans with an eight-birdie 65 in excellent scoring conditions which left him tied at the top of the leaderboard on 10 under par with playing-partner Alex Noren, who also shot 65 despite a poor finish.
"Beef" got up and running with a birdie at the 11th - his second - and he picked up further shots at the par-five 15th and 18th before adding another at the first, although he then missed the green at the short fourth and could not get up and down.
But he responded with a run of three consecutive birdies from the fifth, and he hit back from a bogey at eight with a superb 25-foot putt for his eighth birdie of the round at nine which earned him a share of the early clubhouse lead when Noren closed with a scrappy double-bogey six.
Johnston's group was once again followed by huge galleries, and when asked if he had a message for his fans, he said: "Make some noise! What I want to hear is "Beef", and I'm loving it. The fans the past two days, and the Pro-Am as well, they have been amazing. Just keep it up.
"The British Masters is a great event and it's so good being at home and playing with the home crowds, it's brilliant.
I have a good like relationship with the crowds and stuff and just have a good time with them, so it's nice. All the kids and people coming up and ask for pictures and to sign stuff, it's nice and open. It's good.
"Some guy asked me to sign his forehead so I put a big "Beef" across his forehead and took a picture, and it was a Sharpie, as well. I'm hoping it's still on his head!"
And on his form this week, he added: "Yeah, very happy. I thought I played well yesterday in the wind and managed to make a few more birdies today."
Noren, meanwhile, was unfazed by his mistake at the last which cost him the outright lead having played 17 holes flawlessly with eight birdies, and the Swede enjoyed playing in front of packed galleries alongside Johnston.
"It was nice playing with Andy, he played really well, and it obviously helps," said Noren, twice a winner on the European Tour this season. "You kind of spur each other on, and Justin Walters played good, as well. So it's nice to be in a good group, in a good-playing group.
"I love playing here, and London seems to draw a big crowd and it's very nice. Andrew is great to the crowd, he's playing great golf but he's also the nicest guy to the crowd I've ever seen. I hope we all can learn from that. You need also confidence to be nice to the crowd and know that they are there for him. It's great."
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And on his blip at his last hole, Noren added: "It's fine, I don't dwell on it too much. I'm just more concerned with how I played the shots needed to be in the top of the tournament. I'm happy about my game and I'm happy about how I played, how I putted, and how I stayed mentally in the moment."
