Scottie Scheffler takes one stroke lead into the weekend – The Open

Round 2

Scottie Scheffler lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite at The 153rd Open by jumping ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick and grabbing the halfway lead at Royal Portrush.

Scheffler, chasing a second major win and fourth PGA Tour title of the season, took advantage of the best of the conditions on Friday afternoon to card a brilliant second-round 64 and move to 10 under.

The world No 1 birdied two of his last three holes to edge ahead of Fitzpatrick, who fired five-under 66 to set the initial clubhouse target and raise hopes of a first English winner in The Open since 1992, with 2023 champion Brian Harman two back in tied-third alongside Haotong Li.

Ryder Cup team-mates Tyrrell Hatton and Bob MacIntyre are in the group in tied-fifth that contains Rasmus Hojgaard, with his brother Nicolai Hojgaard also inside the top 10, while Rory McIlroy remains in contention as he chases a home victory in Northern Ireland.

McIlroy heads into the weekend on three under alongside Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, with defending champion Xander Schauffele a further stroke back and Bryson DeChambeau battling into the weekend after a second-round 65.

Fitzpatrick holed a 10-foot birdie at the first but three-putted the next for par, only to close on the leaders by making birdies either side of a three-putt bogey at the driveable par-four fifth.

He cancelled out a close-range birdie at the par-five seventh by bogeying the next, reaching the turn in 34, then charged up the leaderboard when he rolled in from 15 feet at the tenth to spark a run of four consecutive birdies.

Fitzpatrick held a two-shot advantage until he missed from five feet to save par at the 14th and squandered a four-foot birdie putt at the 17th, but clung onto the outright advantage after holing from 23 feet at the par-four last to scramble an unlikely par.

Scheffler found just three fairways in his opening-round 68 but quickly moved made his move in a better driving display on Friday afternoon, birdieing the first and fifth before converting from 35 feet at the par-three sixth.

The reigning PGA Champion added another at the seventh and opened his back nine with a 10-foot birdie, with Scheffler bouncing back from a blemish at the 11th to birdie both par-threes on the back nine to pull level with Fitzpatrick.

Scheffler took the outright advantage with a 15-foot birdie at the par-four 17th but left an effort to double his lead short at the last, with the three-time major champion now primed to become the first world No 1 to win The Open since Tiger Woods’ title defence in 2006.

Hatton carded a two-under 69 to move to five under and MacIntyre also closed within five of the lead after a second-round 66, with Hojgaard, overnight co-leader Harris English and last week’s Genesis Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup also sharing fifth.

McIlroy produced an improved performance off the tee to register two birdies in a bogey-free back nine, ensuring he avoided a repeat of the missed cut he experienced here in 2019, with English duo Lee Westwood and Jordan Smith also on three under.

A strong English contingent inside the top-20 sees Matthew Jordan, Harry Hall and Justin Rose all on two under with last year’s winner Schauffele, with Tommy Fleetwood a further shot back after carding a three-under 68 in the same group as McIlroy.

The 2019 champion Shane Lowry was assessed a two-shot penalty post-round after his ball moved on a practice swing at the 12th, dropping him back to the group on level par that contains Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Phil Mickelson.