He started the second round just three shots behind. He goes into the weekend seven shots behind the top-ranked player in the world.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s going to have the expectation to go out and dominate. He\u2019s an exceptional player. He\u2019s world No. 1, and we\u2019re seeing Tiger-like stuff,\u201d Fitzpatrick said. \u201cI think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me, obviously I hope I\u2019m going to have some more home support than him, but it\u2019s an exciting position for me to be in given where I was earlier this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fitzpatrick was rolling along until a pair of short putts he missed, from 5 feet for par on the 14th and from 3 feet for birdie on the 17th. Even so, he holed a 25-foot par putt on the final hole and assured him being in the last group at 9-under 133.<\/p>\n
Scheffler was sharp from the start. He hit eight of the 14 fairways \u2014 compared with three in the opening round \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The statistics led to a shrug.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, I\u2019m hitting the ball solid,\u201d Scheffler said. \u201cThe tournament is only halfway done. I got off to a good start.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harman was called the \u201cButcher of Hoylake\u201d when he won the claret jug at Royal Liverpool two years ago because the British press was fascinated by the Georgia native\u2019s love for hunting. Now it\u2019s about his golf, and it was superb.<\/p>\n
Harman played bogey-free, only once having to stress for par as Royal Portrush allowed for some good scoring in weather that again did not live up to its expectation.<\/p>\n