With the way he was playing on Thursday, and the way he survived a downpour at Royal Portrush, it was only a matter of time before Scottie Scheffler became the solo leader.
Scheffler posted a 64 on Friday in the second round of the British Open, which had him just a shot off the course record in Northern Ireland. He left a birdie putt painfully short at the final hole, too. That moved the top-ranked golfer in the world into the solo lead at the midway point of the final major championship of the season.
Advertisement
Scheffler carded eight birdies on the day, which matched his career-best at a major championship. He’s now the first No. 1 golfer to lead the Britisih Open at the midway point since Tiger Woods did so in 2006. Woods won the Claret Jug that year, something that Scheffler has yet to do.
There were five golfers tied for the lead when play finally ended on Thursday night, including Jacob Skov, Olesen, Haotong Li, Matt Fitzpatrick, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Harris English. Scheffler, with his opening-round 68, was a shot back. But by the end of the day on Friday, only Fitzpatrick remained in the mix. He shot a 5-under 66 to get to 9-under, which will put him in the final group on Saturday with Scheffler.
Brian Harman made the early run in Round 2, firing a 6-under 65 to move to 8-under. He’s joined by Haotong Li in third.
Rory McIlroy, playing at home this week and trying to avenge his last outing at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, has kept himself in contention. He finished with a second round 69 to get to 3-under, seven back of Scheffler.
Advertisement
The cut is currently projected to be at 1-over for the week, which has left several notable names on the outside. Collin Morikawa, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Patrick Cantlay and Joaquin Niemann are all set to miss the weekend.
Follow along right here as Yahoo Sports covers all of the second round action from Royal Portrush:
