TROON, Scotland – Stronger winds and firmer conditions made the second round of the 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club on Friday even more dangerous for the world's top golfers.
So much so that many of the favorites will not be present in the last 36 holes.
“I need to lie down in a dark room,” said England's Matthew Southgate, who missed the cut after shooting 7-for-7 on Friday. “It's brutal. It's one of the toughest experiences I've had on a golf course. There were crosswinds everywhere and the holes were on the same side where the wind was coming from. It's very, very difficult. It was like playing survival golf.”
Local knowledge and experience of links golf have improved immeasurably so far. For the first time since 1951, the top three golfers in the halfway rankings are from the UK and Ireland. Ireland's Shane Lowry, with a total of 7 under par for 36 holes 135, has a 2-stroke lead over England's Justin Rose and Daniel Brown.
Here's what to look out for in the third round of The Open:
Will Lowry retain his lead?
Lowry was asked on Friday if he considers himself a good favorite.
“I wouldn't say I'm a good runner,” Lowry joked.
It is Lowry’s fourth career 36-hole lead or co-lead on the PGA Tour. In the previous close, he had gone 1-for-3, winning the 2019 Open Championship at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland and finishing third at the 2019 RBC Heritage and the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.
“For me, it's about going out there and playing my own game, getting the best result I can and then seeing where that leaves me at the end of the day,” Lowry said. “Try not to worry about what other people are doing and try to mind your own business. I don't know. I've played in some big tournaments and managed to beat them.”
The good news for Lowry: Three of the last four 36-hole leaders or co-leaders at The Open have gone on to lift the Claret Jug. He did so in 2019, followed by Cameron Smith at St. Andrews in 2022 and Brian Harman at Royal Liverpool last year.
Lowry, who grew up in Ireland, seems better prepared than most to play in wind and rain. He survived a downpour in the final round of the 2019 Open Championship and won by six shots over Tommy Fleetwood.
“I come into conditions like this and I know I can do it, I know I can deal with it,” Lowry said. “It's pretty hard to stand there from 190 yards and force yourself to hit a 4-iron as low as you can. It's pretty hard to tell yourself that. I feel like the three weeks I've spent at home, the golf I've played in Ireland, coming here and doing my best, I've been able to do it.” [research] “I was here a few weeks ago and I feel like all of that helped.”
Can Scheffler catch Lowry?
Lowry doesn't have to look very far down the leaderboard to see that world number one golfer Scottie Scheffler is again lurking near the top.
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida, Scheffler putted on the last seven greens to tie Lowry for the third-round lead. That Sunday, Scheffler shot a 6-under 66 to pull away and win by 5 strokes over Wyndham Clark. Lowry shot a 72 and fell six strokes behind.
“Honestly, I'm not sure Scottie Scheffler is too worried about anybody in his current form,” Lowry said. “Obviously, he's in the mix and he's a guy that everybody's going to be talking about.”
Scheffler is seeking his seventh win of the season and second major after winning the Masters for the second time in April. He shot a 1-under 70 for the second straight round on Friday and is five shots behind Lowry.
Scheffler's putter also seemed to be warming up. He made birdie putts of 12 feet on the fourth hole, 35 feet on the 14th and 5 feet on the 16th. He also made a nice 15-foot putt to save par on the 16th.
After losing about half a stroke to the field on the greens on Thursday, he gained about 1½ in the second round.
“I said after yesterday's round that sometimes it's a numbers game,” Scheffler said. “Just keep getting the ball close to the hole, and the closer I get it to the hole more often, the more putts I'm going to make. If I'm hitting good putts and they're going close to the edge, I think it's almost more likely that I'm going to make more putts here in the future.”
Scheffler has rallied after 36 holes in six of his 11 career stroke-play victories on the PGA Tour, including three in which he trailed by six strokes or more: the 2022 WM Phoenix Open, the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship in March.
“I don't really care what those guys do,” Scheffler said. “I'm just trying to do the best I can to hit good shots and put myself in position. Heading into the weekend, five shots behind, I feel like I'm in a decent position.”
Will Brown stay?
Brown, playing in his first major, took a one-shot lead over Lowry in the first round and did enough to stay near the top of the leaderboard in the second. He finished the round at 2-over 38, but made two birdies and a bogey in the second round to stay within two shots of Lowry.
Brown is in a rare environment. Since 1900, the only players to finish first in their major championship debut were Francis Ouimet (1913 U.S. Open), Ben Curtis (2003 Open) and Keegan Bradley (2011 PGA Championship).
According to ESPN Stats & Information, Brown is the first golfer since SK Ho in 2003 to finish in the top two after 36 holes in his major debut. Rose (1998), Gerry Taylor (1987) and Ian Baker-Finch (1984) also did so.
Even while sleeping up front, Brown said he got plenty of rest before the second round.
“I managed to finish on time for seven or eight hours,” Brown said. “I was exhausted. I don't think I've had a finish that late in a long time.”
Brown, a regular on the DP World Tour, knows he is only halfway there.
“I've always been pretty laid back, honestly,” Brown said. “I guess I'm a little bit of a realist, too. I know I'm not going to start getting ahead of myself and thinking, 'Oh my God, I'm leading the Open or I'm second in the Open or whatever.' There's still 36 holes left. I might have a good round tomorrow and I might have a terrible round on Sunday. You never know.”
The stars are going home
Links golf tends to neutralize any distance advantage the world's best players may have, especially when the wind is howling and the greens are firm and fast. That was certainly the case at Royal Troon, where several of the game's top-ranked golfers were ejected after 36 holes.
Among those who missed the cut: Will Zalatoris (7 over), Tyrrell Hatton (8 over), Ludvig Åberg (9 over), Fleetwood (9 over), Bryson DeChambeau (9 over), Viktor Hovland (10 over), Tony Finau (10 over), Tom Kim (11 over), Cameron Smith (12 over), Rory McIlroy (11 over), Sahith Theegala (14 over), Tiger Woods (14 over) and Clark (16 over).
After shooting a 7-over 78 on Thursday, McIlroy didn't have much room for error. He got off to a dismal start in the second round with bogeys on holes 3, 5 and 6 and a triple-bogey 8 on the 4th. He was 6 over par after six holes. He played the final 12 holes at 2 under without a bogey.
“When I look back at the two majors where I didn't play my best game, here and the Masters, the wind got the better of me on Friday at Augusta, and then it got the better of me the last two days here,” McIlroy said.
“I didn't adjust well to the left-to-right wind yesterday on the back nine, and then this afternoon, coming out with that gusty wind in front, as I said, it got to me and I felt quite uncomfortable on some shots.”
McIlroy finished tied for 12th at the PGA Championship and was solo runner-up at the U.S. Open, but it still feels like a lost season at the majors. He will carry a drought of more than 10 years in the majors into the 2025 Masters.
McIlroy will compete at the Paris Olympics in a couple of weeks and is in contention for a FedEx Cup on the PGA Tour and a Race to Dubai title on the DP World Tour.
“I feel like I say this at every Open Championship, but it’s not like we only play four events a year,” he said. “We play like 25, so there are still a few things to be decided. Obviously, the majors have come and gone, but you have to refocus and try to reset for the Olympics, which will be another cool experience, and try to play well there. I’m in contention to try and win both titles on both sides of the Atlantic, so there are still a few things to be decided between now and the end of the year.”
DeChambeau is the second golfer in the last 10 years to miss the cut at The Open after winning the US Open in the same year (Gary Woodland, 2019).
The weather forecast improves
The weather in Scotland is unpredictable, and so it was again this week. The Met Office forecast for the weekend calls for a wet Saturday and a mostly dry Sunday. A clear morning is expected on Saturday, followed by heavier and more persistent showers in the late afternoon. South to southwest winds of 7 to 10 mph with gusts of 12 to 15 mph are expected.
There is high confidence that Sunday will be a “dryer, sunnier day.” Southwest winds are expected at 7 to 10 mph with gusts of 11 to 14 mph. High temperatures are expected around 65 degrees.
Race for the silver medal
Four amateurs made the 36-hole cut and will battle it out in the final two rounds for the silver medal. Scotsman Calum Scott, who plays for Texas Tech, leads the field at 4 over par.
“In some ways I feel like I've exceeded my expectations, but at the same time I just wanted to see how my game compared to everyone else,” Scott said. “Obviously, with the best out there, and obviously this course is one of the best in the world, a major on a golf course designed as such. With the Scottish weather conditions, it's even more like a major.”
Jacob Skov Olesen, who in June became the first Dane to win the British Amateur, is one shot behind. The former TCU and Arkansas player shot a bogey-free 71 on Friday. He will also be eligible to play in the Masters and U.S. Championship next season if he remains an amateur.
Spain's Luis Masaveu, who survived a 36-hole qualifying final playing with old clubs because he lost his new ones, and University of Texas golfer Tommy Morrison were on the cut line at 6 over par. The 6-foot-5 Morrison became the first American to win the European Amateur Championship on June 29.
