-
Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Writer
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 treacherous for the world’s best golfers.
So much so that many of the favorites won’t be around for the final 36 holes.
“I need to lie down in a dark room,” England’s Matthew Southgate, who missed the cut after limping through a 7-over 78 on Friday, said. “It’s brutal out there. That’s one of the toughest experiences I’ve had on a golf course. It was crosswinds everywhere and pins on the same side where the wind was coming from. It’s just so, so difficult. It was like survival golf really.”
Local knowledge and links golf experience have improved invaluable so far. For the first time since 1951, the top three golfers on the leaderboard at the halfway point are from the United Kingdom and Ireland. Ireland’s Shane Lowry, with a 36-hole total of 7-under 135, has a 2-shot lead over England’s Justin Rose and Daniel Brown.
Here’s what to watch in the third round of The Open:
Will Lowry hold the lead?
Lowry was asked Friday if he considers himself a good front-runner.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a good runner,” Lowry joked.
It’s the fourth 36-hole lead or co-lead of Lowry’s PGA Tour career. He was 1-for-3 in closing out previously, 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 just about going out and playing my own game, shooting the best score I can, and then seeing where it leaves me at the end of the day,” Lowry said. “Try not to worry about what other people are doing and just try to take care of your own personal stuff. I don’t know. I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off.”
The good news for Lowry: Three of the past four 36-hole leaders or co-leaders at The Open went on to lift the Claret Jug. He did it in 2019, followed by Cameron Smith at St. Andrews in 2022 and Brian Harman at Royal Liverpool last year.
Having grown up in Ireland, Lowry seems better equipped than most to play in the wind and rain. He survived a downpour in the final round of the 2019 Open Championship to run away with a 6-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood.
“I get to conditions like this, and I know I can do it, I know I can deal with that,” Lowry said. “It’s quite difficult to stand up there from 190 yards and make yourself hit a 4-iron as low as you can. It’s quite difficult to tell yourself that. I feel like the three weeks I’ve had at home, the golf I’ve played in Ireland, coming here, and doing my [research] here a few weeks ago, I feel like that’s all helped.”
Can Scheffler catch Lowry?
Lowry doesn’t have to look far down the leaderboard to see that world No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler is lurking close to the top again.
At the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in Orlando, Florida, Scheffler one-putted the final seven greens to tie Lowry for the third-round lead. On that Sunday, Scheffler posted a 6-under 66 to pull away for a 5-shot win over Wyndham Clark. Lowry carded a 72 and was six strokes behind.
“Honestly, I’m not sure Scottie Scheffler is too worried about anyone with the form he’s in,” Lowry said. “He’s obviously on the leaderboard, and he’s one person that people are going to be talking about.”
Scheffler is looking for his seventh victory of the season and second major after winning the Masters for a second time this April. He posted a 1-under 70 on Friday for the second straight round and is five shots behind Lowry.
Scheffler’s putter seemed to be warming up, too. He had birdie putts of 11½ feet on No. 4, 35½ feet on No. 14 and 5 feet on No. 16. He also had a nice 15-footer to save par on No. 16.
After losing about a half-stroke to the field on the greens on Thursday, he gained about 1½ in the second round.
“I said after yesterday’s round, sometimes it’s a numbers game,” Scheffler said. “Just keep getting the ball up around the hole, and the more I can get it closer to the hole more often, the more putts I’m going to hole. If I’m hitting good putts and they’re going up around the edge, I think it’s almost more likely that I’m going to make more putts here in the future.”
Scheffler came from behind after 36 holes in six of his 11 stroke-play victories in his PGA Tour career, including three when he trailed by six strokes or more: the 2022 WM Phoenix Open, 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship in March.
“It doesn’t really matter to me what those guys are doing,” Scheffler said. “I’m trying to do my best to hit good shots and put myself in position. Going into the weekend, five shots back, I feel like I’m in a decent position.”
Is Brown going to stick around?
Brown, playing in his first major, grabbed a 1-shot lead over Lowry in the first round and did enough to stay near the top of the leaderboard in the second. He made the turn at 2-over 38 but had two birdies and one bogey on the back to stay 2 behind Lowry.
Brown is in rare air. Since 1900, the only players to finish first in their major championship debuts 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 S.K. Ho in 2003 to be inside the top two through 36 holes while making their major debut. Rose (1998), Gerry Taylor (1987) and Ian Baker-Finch (1984) also did it.
Even while sleeping on the lead, Brown said he got plenty of rest before the second round.
“I managed to get seven or eight hours in,” Brown said. “I was knackered. I don’t think I’ve had a late finish like that in a long time.”
Brown, a DP World Tour regular, knows he’s only halfway there.
“I’ve always been quite laid back really,” Brown said. “I think I am a bit of a realist as well. I know I’m not going to start getting ahead of myself and thinking that, ‘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 then I might have a stinky round on Sunday. You just don’t know.”
Stars are going home
Links golf tends to neutralize any distance advantages that the world’s best players might 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 sent packing 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 struggling through a 7-over 78 on Thursday, McIlroy didn’t have much room for error. He had a terrible start in the second round with bogeys on Nos. 3, 5 and 6 and a triple-bogey 8 on No. 4. He was 6 over after six holes. He played the final 12 holes at 2 under without a bogey.
“When I look back on the two majors that I didn’t play my best at, here and the Masters, the wind got the better of me on Friday at Augusta, and then the wind got the better of me the last two days here,” McIlroy said.
“I didn’t adapt well at all to that left-to-right wind yesterday on the back nine, and then this afternoon going out in that gusty wind on the front, as I said, it got the better of me, and I felt pretty uncomfortable over a few shots.”
McIlroy tied for 12th at the PGA Championship and was solo second at the U.S. Open, but it still seems like a lost majors season. He’ll take a more than 10-year drought in majors into the 2025 Masters.
McIlroy will compete in the Olympics in Paris in a couple of weeks and he’s 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 every Open Championship, but it’s not as if we only play four events a year,” he said. “We play like 25, so there’s still a few things left to play for. Obviously, the majors have come and gone, but to sort of 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 to win both titles on either side of the Atlantic, so still some things to play for until the end of the year.”
DeChambeau is the second golfer in the past 10 years to miss the cut at The Open after winning the U.S. Open in the same year (Gary Woodland, 2019).
Weather forecast improving
The weather in Scotland is unpredictable, and that was the case again this week. The Met Office’s forecast for the weekend calls for a wet Saturday and mostly dry Sunday. It’s expected to be a clear morning Saturday, followed by heavier and more persistent rain in the late afternoon. Winds from the south to southwest at 7-10 mph with gusts of 12-15 mph are expected.
There’s high confidence for a “drier, brighter day” on Sunday. Winds are expected to be south-westerly from 7 to 10 mph with gusts of 11-14 mph. High temperatures are expected to be in the mid-60s.
Race for the Silver Medal
Four amateurs made the 36-hole cut and will battle in the final two rounds for the Silver Medal. Scotland’s Calum Scott, who plays at Texas Tech, leads the way at 4 over.
“I feel like in a way I have overachieved, but at the same time I was just wanting to see where my game was compared to,” Scott said. “Obviously, the best there is, and obviously this field is one of the best in the world, a major on a golf course set up like a major. 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 back. The former TCU and Arkansas golfers carded a bogey-free 71 on Friday. He’ll also get to play in the Masters and U.S. next season if he remains an amateur.
Spain’s Luis Masaveu, who survived a 36-hole final qualifier playing with old clubs because his new ones were lost, and University of Texas golfer Tommy Morrison were on the cut line at 6 over. Morrison, 6 feet, 9 inches, became the first American winner of the European Amateur Championship on June 29.