Key events
Russell Henley was many a pundit’s dark-horse tip for this year’s Open. The 36-year-old Georgian was tucked away just out of sight for the first two days, after rounds of 72 and 70, and started today at level par. But now he’s troubling the leaders! Birdies at 2, 3, 7, 8 and 11, with just the one dropped shot at 6, and he’s just eagled 12, raking in a 30-footer to move to -6. Eagle putt for the defending champion Xander Schauffele as well, at 7. And it was asking too much of Rory to sink that long birdie putt on 3, but he gets close enough to tap in for his par.
-10: Scheffler
-9: Fitzpatrick
-8: Harman, Li
-6: Henley (12)
-5: McIlroy (3), Gotterup (1), R Højgaard, Hatton, MacIntyre, English
-4: Conners (F), Clark (16), Wallace (10), Fleetwood (9), LIndell (8), Schauffele (7), Åberg (5), Rose (5), N Højgaard (2)
Rory comes up a club short on the par-three 3rd. He’s on the green, but at the front, and the pin’s at the back. On Sky, the ever-excellent Rich Beem speculates that he might have been factoring in the adrenaline that’s surely pumping through his veins. He’ll need to drain a 60-footer if he’s to keep his birdie sequence going.
Rory McIlroy finds the heart of green at the par-five 2nd in two. He leaves himself a slow, uphill 28-foot eagle putt. He sets it off dead on line, but without exactly half-a-turn’s-worth enough juice. He bends over in theatrical frustration, but looks happy enough when he taps in. A birdie-birdie start, and suddenly he’s only five back at -5. Incidentally, he’s wearing a red Nike shirt. A signal that he’s determined to put in the sort of performance you’d normally associate with Tiger on a Sunday? Most of golf is played in the mind, so rule nothing out.
Ludvig Åberg has also made a fast start. Birdies at 2 and 3 bring him up to -4. The 25-year-old Swede’s short major career is very much one of contrasts: runner-up at the Masters on debut, tied for 12th at his first US Open, seventh on his second visit to Augusta. But he’s missed the cut in both appearances at the PGA, again at last month’s US Open, and last year at Troon, where he shot 75-76. A tie for eighth at last week’s Scottish Open showcased his ability on a links, though, and now he’s looking good for another of those high-placed major finishes. Will he ever finish in the middle of the pack?
Rory McIlroy’s second into 1, from the middle of the fairway, is distinctly average. He’s left himself with a tricky two-putt for his par from 36 feet. Well, that’s how the average player would process it. The putt has a huge right-to-left curl, but he judges it to perfection, the ball dropping into the hole at four o’clock. The crowd – and it is a crowd, a huge following – erupts in wild celebration. There’s barely a flicker on McIlroy’s face. No histrionics, just one finger pointing in the air, as if to say: that’s birdie number one, let’s go looking for the next. The start of one of his trademark leaderboard charges? Let’s see! He’s -4.
While we’re on the subject of Bryson, this is a magnificent piece by Andy Bull. Every line a gem. Get on it immediately, if not sooner.
DeChambeau, just over 6ft, square-shouldered, shaped like a linebacker, looks like he’s been carved out of marble. In between shots, his body seems to fall like it’s been positioned for him by a sculptor. MacIntyre, on the other hand, is built like the bloke working the till in the chippie.
It’s been another good day for Bryson DeChambeau. Having shot 78 on Thursday, he followed it up with 65 yesterday, a difference of 13 strokes between rounds. He’s carded a 68 today, and it would have been 67 had his brilliant snaky 50-foot birdie effort on 18 not stubbornly stopped on the lip. It deserved to drop. Back on Thursday evening, it was fair enough to wonder whether or not Bryson’s style is compatible with Open success; he’s since pretty comprehensively debunked any doubts. At -2, he’s too far back this year, but these rounds will have boosted his belief ahead of Birkdale next year. Don’t rule him out.
Rory McIlroy arrives on the 1st tee to the usual Ulster ululations. Bedlam, bedlam, glorious bedlam. And he further whips up the crowd by cracking his driving iron down the fairway. No drama yet. So with the nation’s favourite son out on the course, and the leaders soon to follow, now’s a good time to take stock of how the top of the leaderboard looks …
-10: Scheffler
-9: Fitzpatrick
-8: Harman, Li
-5: R Højgaard, Hatton, MacIntyre, English, Gotterup
-4: Conners (F), Parry (16), Clark (13), Wallace (7), Finau, N Højgaard
-3: Spaun (12), D Johnson (12), Henley (10), Im (8), Glover (7), Fleetwood (6), Lindell (5), Schauffele (3), Åberg (2), Burns (1), Westwood (1), Bradley, McIlroy, Smith
Having announced Sung-jae Im’s blistering start with such a fanfare, the inevitable occurs. Bogey at 8. Just the one par on his card so far today. But John Parry is continuing in the right direction, following up his ace at 13 with birdie at 15. He’s -4 for the tournament, alongside Wyndham Clark, who makes his fourth birdie of the day at 12, and Matt Wallace, who’s made his fourth birdie of the round at 7! Yeah, there’s a score out there all right, for anyone whose irons are dialled in. If Scottie Scheffler’s driver behaves, say goodnight to the rest of the field.
… so there’s a score out there, if someone wants it. Corey Conners is the best of the bunch back in the clubhouse right now, having shot 66. The 33-year-old Canadian, who has never really done it at the Open before, is -4 overall, and that’s some good moving. And if that isn’t illustrative enough, Sung-jae Im is currently four under for his round through 7. And that’s with a bogey at 3. He’s made five birdies, at 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7, and is clearly of a mind to match his top-ten finish last year at Troon at the very least. He’s -4 for the championship.
The weather report. Sunny intervals, not too much wind, and that’s been reflected in the early scoring, which we’ll get onto in a minute. There’s a chance the wind will pick up later, and there could even be some rain, but don’t bet the farm on any of this definitely happening, it’s the Open, it’s an Irish summer, the weather is what it will be. Rain very much likely tomorrow, mind.
Hole-in-one for Parry
Before we get into the thick of the action, let’s kick-start our day with a sugar rush: news of a hole-in-one! It’s already been a good season for John Parry: the 38-year-old from Harrogate won on the DP World Tour for the first time in 15 years, at the Mauritius Open; came second at the Kenya Open and the Alfred Dunhill, and tied for fourth at the Soudal Open. This might just be the highlight, though: a tee shot drawn into the 192-yard 13th which takes a couple of bounces and disappears into the cup! He’s warmly congratulated by his playing partner, the 1997 champion Justin Leonard. That matches the feat of Emiliano Grillo, who aced this hole during the first round back in 2019. Parry is playing in only his second Open, having teed it up at St Andrews three years ago, finishing the week in a tie for 62nd. He’s made a bigger mark this time.
Preamble
Welcome to Moving Day at the 153rd Open Championship! After 36 holes, the top of the leaderboard looked like this …
-10: Scottie Scheffler
-9: Matt Fitzpatrick
-8: Brian Harman, Haotong Li
-5: Rasmus Højgaard, Tyrrell Hatton, Robert MacIntyre, Harris English, Chris Gotterup
-4: Tony Finau, Nicolai Højgaard
-3: Keegan Bradley, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Smith, Lee Westwood, Sam Burns
… while these (selected) big names missed the cut …
Joaquin Niemann, Jason Day, Ryan Fox, Zach Johnson, Kim Si-woo, Tom Kim, Tom McKibbin, Patrick Cantlay, Stewart Cink, Cameron Young, Min Woo Lee, Patrick Reed, Louis Oosthuizen, Darren Clarke, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, and Padraig Harrington
… and that left us with a tee sheet that looked like this (all times BST, GB&I unless stated). It’s on!
0935 Matti Schmid, Corey Conners
0945 Sepp Straka, Hideki Matsuyama
0955 Takumi Kanaya, Adrien Saddier
1005 Sebastian Soderberg, Henrik Stenson
1015 Thomas Detry, Jacob Skov Olesen
1025 Nathan Kimsey, Bryson DeChambeau
1035 Maverick McNealy, Thriston Lawrence
1045 Justin Leonard, John Parry
1100 Andrew Novak, Sergio Garcia
1110 Jesper Svensson, Francesco Molinari
1120 Riki Kawamoto, Wyndham Clark
1130 Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm
1140 JJ Spaun, Dustin Johnson
1150 Phil Mickelson, Jhonattan Vegas
1200 Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth
1215 Russell Henley, Antoine Rozner
1225 Romain Langasque, Daniel Berger
1235 Sungjae Im, Dean Burmester
1245 Matt Wallace, Akshay Bhatia
1255 Jason Kokrak, Lucas Glover
1305 Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
1315 Aaron Rai, Rickie Fowler
1330 Marc Leishman, Oliver Lindell
1340 Ryggs Johnston, Xander Schauffele
1350 Kristoffer Reitan, Matthew Jordan
1400 Ludvig Åberg, Justin Rose
1410 Harry Hall, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
1420 Sam Burns, Lee Westwood
1430 Jordan Smith, Rory McIlroy
1445 Keegan Bradley, Nicolai Højgaard
1455 Tony Finau, Chris Gotterup
1505 Harris English, Robert MacIntyre
1515 Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Højgaard
1525 Haotong Li, Brian Harman
1535 Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler
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