PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland: Scottie Scheffler had no idea what was coming his way Friday in the British Open. He warmed up in a short-sleeved shirt. The umbrella was out when he walked off the first green.
For the thousands at Royal Portrush watching him, they knew exactly what to expect from the world’s No. 1 player, and Scheffler delivered another relentless performance. Three straight birdies to close the gap. Two more at the end to take the lead.
Scheffler had a 15-foot putt that was one turn away from dropping for a final birdie. He happily settled for a 7-under 64, his lowest round in a major, to take a one-shot lead over former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick of England.
It was his lowest round in a major, yes, but there was a normalcy about it, too. Scheffler has been doing this for three years now and there is little left to say. Even when Sky Sports showed a list of his key statistics — driving accuracy down, greens in regulation great — that elicited little more than a shrug.
The statistics led to a shrug.
“Overall, I’m hitting the ball solid,” Scheffler said. “The tournament is only halfway done. I got off to a good start.”
Scheffler made eight birdies on another wild afternoon of weather, putting him at 10-under 132 as he chases the third leg of the career Grand Slam.
Fitzpatrick was equally dynamic when he began the back nine with four straight birdies, only to miss a 5-foot par putt on the 14th to slow his momentum, and a 3-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that was mildly irritating. He shot 66.
“I felt like every facet of my game was on today and I felt like I really played solid,” Fitzpatrick said. “To take advantage of the opportunities I had out there was obviously really positive.”
Brian Harman got the best of the weather — surprising sunshine — and took dead aim in his hunt for another Claret Jug. Harman played bogey-free for a 65 that left him only two shots behind, along with Li Haotong of China, who had a 67.
Everyone else was five shots behind or more.
That includes Rory McIlroy, who went around Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland with plenty of cheers but only a few roars. McIlroy had a 69 but lost a lot of ground because of Scheffler, Fitzpatrick and Harman.
McIlroy started the second round just three shots behind. He goes into the weekend seven shots behind the top-ranked player in the world.
“I’ve been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there,” McIlroy said. “I’m going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run.”
Fitzpatrick was at his lowest point just four months ago when he changed his caddie and coach and began pulling himself up. And now he takes that into the weekend against Scheffler.
“He’s going to have the expectation to go out and dominate. He’s an exceptional player. He’s world No. 1, and we’re seeing Tiger-like stuff,” Fitzpatrick said. “I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me, obviously, I hope I’m going to have some more home support than him, but it’s an exciting position for me to be in given where I was earlier this year.”
Scheffler spent 20 minutes after his round going over video with Shane Lowry over Lowry’s ball moving a fraction in the rough on No. 12, which led to a two-shot penalty. Lowry wasn’t sure he caused his ball to move, but he said he would rather take the penalty to avoid even the slightest suspicion.
His attention turned to Scheffler when someone suggested he had been on the fringes of contention before the penalty.
“Eight shots behind Scottie Scheffler isn’t in the fringes of contention the way he’s playing,” Lowry said.
Scheffler was sharp from the start. He hit eight of the 14 fairways — compared with three in the opening round — though his misses never left him too badly out of position. But he is seeing the breaks on smoother Portrush greens, and he looks confident as ever.
None of his eight birdies were closer than 7 feet. Five of them were in the 10-foot range and then he threw in a 35-foot birdie on the sixth. His lone bogey came on a drive into deep grass on the 11th that kept him from reaching the green.
Harman was called the “Butcher of Hoylake” when he won the claret jug at Royal Liverpool two years ago because the British press was fascinated by the Georgia native’s love for hunting. Now it’s about his golf, and it was superb.
Harman played bogey-free, only once having to stress for par as Royal Portrush allowed for some good scoring in surprisingly good weather in the morning.
“They’re very different golf courses, but the golf is similar,” Harman said. “You’ve got to be able to flight your golf ball. You’ve got to know how far everything’s going. Then you can’t get frustrated. You’re going to end up in funny spots where it doesn’t seem fair, and you just have to kind of outlast that stuff.”
The group at 5-under 137 included Harris English (70), Harman’s former teammate at Georgia; Tyrrell Hatton of England (69) and Chris Gotterup (65), who wasn’t even planning to be at Royal Portrush until winning the Scottish Open last week.
Also still around is Bryson DeChambeau, who made a 13-shot improvement from the first round with a 65. Still, he was 11 shots behind.
McIlroy wasn’t at his best in the opening round and was pleased to be only three behind. Now he has a real mountain to climb. But at least he’s still playing, unlike in 2019 at Royal Portrush when he shot 79 and then had a terrific rally only to miss the cut by one shot.
“I didn’t have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I’m very excited for that,” McIlroy said. “I feel like my game’s definitely good enough to make a run.”
That was before Scheffler began to run away from so many except a small collection of challengers. But this is links golf. And this is the Emerald Isle, where the weather seems to have a mind of its own.
Still, Scheffler has gone 10 tournaments without finishing out of the top 10 and would appear to present a challenge every bit as daunting as Royal Portrush.
