Scottie Scheffler takes lead at the Open while Fitzpatrick drives British hopes | The Open

Imagine he was careful. Imagine he really cared about it. Scottie Scheffler used media homework before the 153rd open championship to assess the uselessness of golf in the large diagram of life. “If I win, it’s going to be great for two minutes,” said Scheffler. The world’s n ° 1 should already prepare for its 120 seconds of Ecstasy. There is an air of inevitability about Scheffler rocking the Bordeaux jug with only half of this missing tournament. It will be a shock if he does not win from here.

Matt Fitzpatrick had the elements to face for spells on Friday afternoon. Then came Scheffler, a maraudant in the rear view mirror, who for a golfer is more embarrassing than anything that falls from the sky. Fitzpatrick had just signed his dashboard for 66 and nine under the total while Scheffler paid into a Birdie putt in the 17th. Ten sous.

Scheffler had the right grace to leave an opportunity of 15 feet on the last one just below the jaws of the hole. Things are at least slightly interesting. It was just that the 64 of Scheffler, the lowest of this open so far, felt worrying for the suitors of his throne.

Fitzpatrick thinks he has reached a professional nadir in the players of this year. There he was seriously struggling for form and answers. Its recent touch was much more impressive and at least similar to the golfer who climbed the US Open Mountain in Brookline in 2022. Fitzpatrick’s only frustration arrived from a missed Birdie putt, all 3 feet, on the penultimate hole. Given Scheffler’s mood, this could be significant.

“I wouldn’t say that I necessarily feel so much pressure,” said Fitzpatrick for a TEE time on Saturday with Scheffler. “He will have the expectation of going out and dominating. He is an exceptional player. He is the world n ° 1 and we see tiger -shaped stuff. I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me, obviously, I hope that I will have a support at home than him, but it is an exciting position for me to be given where I will be earlier this year.”

Fitzpatrick also discussed timing, after the towers extended to almost six hours on the first day. “I think it’s ridiculous,” he said. “The rhythm of the game was a combination of how the golf course is, accessible parameters and all this normal thing. But it also starts with players and starts with the officials of the rules.”

Brian Harman had done the second round in progress, his 65 by putting him eight under the ranking at lunchtime. Li Haotong reached less after 12 years, but had to link Harman’s aggregate. Harman won the open in 2023 and has little precious over the intermediate 24 months. Picked other questions about Harman’s penchant for hunting; Animals, not golf titles. Li’s victory in Qatar in February was his first for three years.

Rory McILroy has long disappeared when Fitzpatrick and Scheffler negotiated the closing section. The masters champion reached his first objective of the open week by surviving for the 36 closing holes, which he did not accomplish here in 2019. The 69 of McILroy for a total of three sous gave hope to the vast galleries who followed him. Saturday promises to deliver more Rory Roar.

“I was a bit close to my best in the first two days in small pieces here and there,” said McILroy. “I will need to control everything and have it pulled all the weekend to run.

“It is incredible to play in front of these fans. It was 20 years ago that I played in the north of Ireland here and never in my wildest dreams, I thought that I would come back as a champion of the Grand Slam with the support of a nation behind me while trying to win an open championship. I have very grateful and very lucky that I am in this position. I am excited for the weekend.”

Keegan Bradley too. While playing what he describes as the golf course of his life, Bradley seems ready to play and captain the team of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage in September. It will be a double role of genius or madness, according to the result against Europe. Bradley also has three sous. His 67 was without Bogey. Chris Gotterup, who won the Scottish Open on Sunday, continues to get on the wave. He was five years old with Harris English, Bob Macintyre, Rasmus Højgaard and Tyrrell Hatton.

Person who has made the cup cannot be completely excluded from the victory of this major. If Scheffler has an improbable trip, that is to say. The ranking is the most congestioned thing in Portrush, which takes a lot. Jordan Spieth, Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland are even by. Tommy Fleetwood is better. The defending champion Xander Schauffele is two sous. Bryson Dechambeau spent Thursday recovering A2 bullets in Coleraine but exploded to break the weekend with a 65. Good old Bryson, never dull.

Those who made an early exit from Ireland of the North included Cameron Smith, whose decline in this environment since he moved to the Liv tour was incredible, Adam Scott, Collin Morikawa, Padraig Harrington and Min Woo Lee. What can prove to be Darren Clarke’s last opening round was 73 for one more total. Next stop, The Harbor Bar.