Portrush, Northern Ireland – Scottie Scheffler had no idea what was going on Friday at open. He warmed up in a short sleeve shirt. The umbrella was released when he left the first green.
For the thousands of Royal Portrush looking at him, they knew exactly what to expect the world’s n ° 1 player, and Scheffler delivered another relentless performance. Three consecutive birdies to fill the gap. Two others at the end to take the lead.
Scheffler had a 15 -foot putt which was at a turn to fall for a final birdie. He was satisfied with a 64-year-old 7-mine, his lowest turn in major, to take a lead on the former champion of the United States Matt Fitzpatrick, of England.
It was his lowest turn in a major, yes, but there was also a normality on this subject. Scheffler has been doing this for three years now, and it only remains to say. Even when Sky Sports has shown a list of its key statistics – causing precision, the Greens in regulations are very high – which has aroused a little more than an uptop.
“Overall, I hit the solid ball,” said Scheffler. “The tournament is only halfway. I took a good start.”
Scheffler made eight birdies on another wilderness afternoon, placing him at 10 under 132 while he continued the third stage of the Grand Chelem in career.
Fitzpatrick was just as dynamic when he started nine rear with four consecutive birdies, only to miss a putt per 5 feet on the 14th to slow down his momentum, and a 3 -foot sneak on the 17th hole which was slightly irritating. He pulled 66.
“I felt like all the facets of my game were on today and I felt like I was really playing solid,” said Fitzpatrick. “To take advantage of the opportunities I had there, it was obviously really positive.”
Brian Harman obtained the best of the weather – a surprising sun – and took the dead goal in his hunt for another jug of Bordeaux. Harman played without Bogey for a 65 who left him only two shots behind, with Haotong Li of China, who had a 67.
Everyone had five shots behind or more.
This includes Rory Mcilroy, who went around the Royal Portrush in his northern native Ireland with a lot of cheers but only a few roars. McILroy had a 69 but lost a lot of ground because of Scheffler, Fitzpatrick and Harman.
Fitzpatrick was at the lowest point only four months ago when he changed his shopping cart and his coach and started to get up. And now he takes this in the weekend against Scheffler.
“He’s going to have the expectation of going out and dominating. He is an exceptional player. He’s world n ° 1, and we see tiger stuff,” said Fitzpatrick. “I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me, of course, I hope that I will have more home support than him, but it is an exciting position for me to be given where I was earlier this year.”
Scheffler was sharp from the start. He struck eight of the 14 fairways – compared to three in the first round – although his failures never have too bad in position of position. But he sees the breaks on the greatest greenery Portrussi, and he always looks confident.
None of his eight birdies was closer to 7 feet. Five of them were in the 10 -foot range, then he launched a 35 -foot birdie on the sixth. His only Bogey came by car in the deep grass on the 11th which prevented him from reaching green.
It is his 10th time having a share of a advance after a major tour since the beginning of 2020, four more than any other golfer in this period. It is the world’s leading n ° 1 to have at least a 36 -hole lead to open since Woods in 2006, a Woods event has won.
Harman was called the “butcher of Hoylake” when he won Blaret’s jug at Royal Liverpool two years ago because the British press was fascinated by the love of the Native of Georgia for Hunting. Now it’s her golf course, and it was superb.
Harman played without Bogey, once to insist for the peer because Royal Portrush made it possible to make a good score in surprisingly beautiful weather in the morning.
“These are very different golf courses, but the golf is similar,” said Harman. “You must be able to steal your golf ball. You must know how far everything goes. Then, you cannot be frustrated. You will find yourself in fun places where it does not seem just, and you just have to survive this kind of thing.”
The group of 5-mine of 137 included Harris English (70), Harman’s former teammate in Georgia; Tyrrell Hatton of England (69); And Chris Gotterup (65), who did not even intend to be at Royal Portrush until we win the Open Scottish last week.
The information from ESPN Research and the Associated Press was used in this report.
