Key events<\/p>\n
Another birdie for Sam Burns! The US Open nearly man (2024, 2025, 2026) had a top-ten finish at the Masters this year, and the feeling is that a major breakthrough isn\u2019t far away for the 29-year-old from Louisiana. That dream is one step closer after sending his tee shot at 4 to 14 feet and rolling home. He\u2019s kind of playing with house money this week, because he wasn\u2019t expecting to compete with a second baby due, but his wife delivered early, then encouraged him to go play. Now look!<\/p>\n
-8: Fox (F), Herbert (2)
-7: Burns (4), Suber (2)<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Jackson Suber, Open debutant, is not going anywhere. He briefly wobbled with three consecutive bogeys yesterday, his aggressive putting style costing him some needless three-putts, but he rallied impressively to maintain his presence near the top. Now he\u2019s wedged gloriously from 128 yards on 2 to kick-in distance. A birdie that moves him to -7, one off the lead.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A diminuendo finish to Hideki Matsuyama\u2019s round. Bogey, but that\u2019s still a fine 67. He\u2019s -4. Scottie Scheffler powers his second from the thick stuff down the side of 6 onto the green, and makes off with his par. Kim Si-woo\u2019s lie to the right of 3 wasn\u2019t so bad, and he exits with par, a score he matches on the following par-three. And belated news of birdie for Sam Burns at 2, Bryson having grabbed everyone\u2019s attention back there.<\/p>\n -8: Fox (F), Herbert (1) Share<\/a><\/p>\n The final game is out on the course. Jackson Suber splits the fairway with his opening tee shot, but Lucas Herbert sends a nervous one dangerously close to OB on the right. But the ball stops short and he catches a good lie. Both of them go on to make par. Meanwhile a second birdie of the day for Tommy Fleetwood, and those hoping for the home hero to lift the Claret Jug \u2013 pretty much everyone on the property \u2013 go wild.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n On 2, Bryson carelessly sends his second from 100 yards into thick rough behind the green, to ripples of laughter, no doubt some wag in the gallery making a crack about his playing the next shot with a strimmer. In fact he delicately jabs a wedge out of the oomska to four feet, a delightful touch. Ideally he\u2019d then perform an elaborate satirical soft-shoe shuffle in the rough, sending the grass hither and yon, but while that\u2019d be amusing for the rest of the world, it\u2019s probably better for the man himself that he refrains from making his point via the medium of contemporary dance. And then he misses the par putt. Oh Bryson! Bogey. Back to six under four under.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.02 EDT<\/p>\n Finally, something happens for Scottie Scheffler. His drive at the short par-four 5th doesn\u2019t quite reach the green \u2026 and his chip up doesn\u2019t get as far as he\u2019d ideally like. But he rolls in the six-footer that he\u2019s left himself, and that\u2019s a first birdie of Moving Day for the defending champ. But he drags his tee shot at 6, the hardest hole on the course, dangerously close to a creek down the left. One more hop and that was in the hazard. The reason it didn\u2019t take one more hop, however, is because the ball snagged in some very thick verdant rough.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A little bit more on Gardenclearancegate from our sports desk.<\/p>\n R&A chief executive Mark Darbon, speaking to the BBC, on if penalising Bryson DeChambeau was more difficult because of his status in golf: \u201cI actually don\u2019t think it does make it a more difficult decision. We have a responsibility to our championship and to the rest of the field. And so irrespective of which player this affected, it\u2019s the same decision.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n An opening par for Bryson, who cracks a seven iron from the rough down the left into the heart of the green, and takes two careful putts. Par as well for his playing partner Sam Burns. Up on 2, Kim Si-woo guides a 12-foot right-to-left slider into the cup for birdie, and he moves up to -6 \u2026 though for how long time will tell, because he\u2019s just sent his tee shot at 3 into thick rough down the right.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The local hero makes his first move of the day! Tommy Fleetwood isn\u2019t going to toy with Bryson Island to the left of 5, laying up from the tee at the drivable par four instead. He wedges his second over the flag to seven feet, and makes his birdie. If you think the gallery adore Bryson, they\u2019re positively head over heels for Tommy. But then, who isn\u2019t? Swoon. Birdie meanwhile at 17 for the 2021 Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, his third in four holes, and with both of the players mentioned in this entry rising to -5, Moving Day is beginning to happen.<\/p>\n -8: Fox (F), Herbert Tommy Fleetwood makes hi putt on the 1st green. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.08 EDT<\/p>\n It\u2019s not quite happening for Scottie Scheffler. A birdie putt lips out on 3. Another slides by the cup on 4. He remains at -4. Birdie at 2 meanwhile for Thomas Detry, who has been there or thereabouts since setting the pace as a member of the opening group on Thursday morning. He\u2019s -5.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Heeeeeeeeeeere\u2019s Bryson!<\/a> The man is showbiz to his bones, and emerges from the tunnel at the 1st tee to rapturous applause from the gallery. He acknowledges all three stands with a Churchillian V-for-victory sign, the thumbs up, and a modest smile. \u201cYou show \u2018em, Bryson!\u201d someone hollers. \u201cOn the tee, from the USA, Bryson DeChambeau!\u201d More applause. More acknowledgement of the punters. Then he unsheathes the driver and sends his opening tee shot left. That\u2019ll be OK, landing on some rough trodden down by the gallery. Delicious irony. You couldn\u2019t script that sort of thing. He\u2019s a star.<\/p>\n Bryson DeChambeau shakes hands with a rules official. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a010.59 EDT<\/p>\n Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen is playing in his first Open this week. And making a very good fist of it. The 27-year-old Dane already has some major-championship pedigree, having tied for 12th at last year\u2019s US Open, and he\u2019s in form on the DP World Tour, having tied third in the World Tour Championship, one shot behind the Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy play-off, and won the Australian Open. Now he guides in a left-to-right 20-foot swinger on 10, his fourth birdie of the day, and one that moves him up to -5.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Some more on Landscapegate from Ewan Murray at Birkdale.<\/p>\n double quotation markMarco Penge had taken to social media to express disquiet at the late distribution of Saturday\u2019s tee times. They appeared around 11pm on Friday, much to the public annoyance not only of Penge but fellow players including Justin Thomas.<\/p>\n After signing for a third round of 69, Penge had not backed down. \u201cIt was a bit of a joke, really,\u201d said the Englishman. \u201cI am staying at home this week, an hour away, so not getting your tee time until 11pm is not great really. Obviously there was a load of commotion so that delayed things.\u201d<\/p>\n Penge assumes the times were delayed as it was ascertained whether Bryson DeChambeau was going to play. While reluctant to offer opinion on DeChambeau\u2019s rules breach, Penge added: \u201cIf I was in that position, I\u2019d just be very careful where I\u2019m standing and how I get into the ball and make sure I don\u2019t improve my lie.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The defending champion Scottie Scheffler has still to find any real rhythm at Birkdale. It\u2019s kind of been that way in the majors all season, and yet he still nearly did enough to come bursting from the pack in second gear to steal both the Masters and US Open. So the rest of the field won\u2019t be sleeping on Scottie. He\u2019s been hovering on the shoulders of the leaders all week, and continues to do so. He starts par-par, the second a delightful save on 2 having dunked his approach into thick greenside rough. He whips gently out to kick-in distance, despite having a downhill lie and very little green to play with. So delicate. He\u2019s -4.<\/p>\n Scottie Scheffler digs one out on the second. Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.16 EDT<\/p>\n Jon Rahm briefly threatens to spin out after that double-bogey start. He yanks his tee shot at 2 into a native area, then sends his approach too far left. But his ball takes a kind bounce off the bank, and rolls up to seven feet! in goes the putt, and that could be a momentum shifter for the big man. It\u2019ll certainly alter his mood for the better. He\u2019s -3.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Im Sung-jae made a preposterous par on the par-five 14th yesterday. Taking a shy for the green in front of a steep-faced fairway bunker with a downhill lie, he thinned his wood into the face and was forced to splash out sideways with his third shot. Then he got up and down from 210 yards. Great fun. If he goes on to win this championship, they\u2019ll show that footage for years. And that\u2019s not outside the realms, because he\u2019s just hit the turn in 31 strokes after birdies at 2, 5 and 9. He\u2019s -5 and fair set.<\/p>\n -8: Fox (F), Herbert Im Sung-jae in earlier action on the 4th. Photograph: David Goldman\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.05 EDT<\/p>\n While we\u2019re on the subject of Bryson DeChambeau \u2026 given the back-and-forth he enjoyed with Nick Faldo earlier in the week<\/a> regarding his \u201czero clue of strategy\u201d, did anyone expect the three-time Open champion to keep his counsel over Stompgate? Nope, no Sir, and earlier on Sky Sports, Faldo told it as he saw it \u2026<\/p>\n double quotation markYou cannot remove anything in your intended swing path \u2026 It was totally inadvertent but it has nothing to do with that, it has nothing to do with Bryson, but he is a golfer that has put his foot down and moved the grass \u2026 It is in the rule book \u2026 The R&A handled it beautifully \u2026 Bottom line \u2013 job done. \u2018Sorry mate, you\u2019ve got a two-shot penalty.\u2019 \u2026 He lost the plot for a couple of minutes, the video is pretty factual.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s the same old story for Rory McIlroy: he just can\u2019t keep any momentum going this week. He follows that chip-in eagle on 9 with bogey at 11. Back to -1, and a second Claret Jug continues to hover out of reach. At least he\u2019s got one. Jon Rahm has a strangely underwhelming record at the Open: a couple of high finishes in 2019 and 2023 without ever really looking likely to win. And it\u2019s threatening to happen again. He carves his opening drive over the bushes to the right and out of bounds, and starts with a double-bogey six. His fume is internal, but it is real, registering eight-and-a-half out of ten on Bryson DeChambeau\u2019s patented R&A-o-meter\u2122.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox speaks to Sky. \u201cThe game plan was to be aggressive \u2026 I hit driver a lot \u2026 your strategy changes with the wind around here \u2026 I had a couple of interesting shots on the back nine and kinda got away with them \u2026 pretty happy with 62 in the end, that\u2019s for sure \u2026 had a lot of fun with [Xander Schauffele] \u2026 he played really well too and we kind of fed off each other \u2026 was pretty happy to make par [on 18] from that fairway trap \u2026 I haven\u2019t really put four rounds together [at the Open] \u2026 hopefully this is a sign \u2026 I\u2019m in a pretty good place to give myself a chance so we\u2019ll see what happens!\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, a word for the 2024 champ Schauffele, who shot a magnificent 66 today. Birdies at 5, 7, 8, 10, 14 and 17, with bogeys at 11 and 15. At -4 overall, he\u2019s probably going to be too far back, but much will depends on how the leaders do today \u2026 and what the wind does tomorrow. Schauffele will be starting relatively early, and if it\u2019s similarly benign \u2026 well, look at Ryan Fox!<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Ryan Fox shoots 62!<\/p>\n Fox is left with a 60-footer for birdie, and he leaves it a good four feet short. That\u2019s not a bad putt given the distance, but in these heightened circumstances it\u2019s very irritating: he\u2019ll die wondering. At least it\u2019s not agonising, though: one dimple short would have been a total nightmare. And he tidies up for his 62 to equal the men\u2019s major record. He\u2019s delighted anyway, and warmly congratulated by his playing partner Xander Schauffele, who has done this very thing twice already. Fox etches his name on the roll of honour \u2013 and he\u2019s the early clubhouse leader, and joint actual leader, at -8!<\/p>\n Branden Grace (2017 Open, Birkdale) Well played Ryan Fox! Photograph: Tom Jenkins\/The GuardianShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.16 EDT<\/p>\n Ryan Fox sends his drive at 18 into the second fairway bunker down the right. He\u2019s not right up against the lip, but the face is a factor. However, when you\u2019re hot, you\u2019re hot, and he opts to go for it, whipping a short iron onto the front-right portion of the green! That was a gutsy move \u2026 and a slightly fortunate one, because slow-mo replays show his ball grazing the very top of the lip of the trap. A couple of dimples lower, and that was staying in. In fact, that\u2019s an outrageous stroke of luck, because looking again, the very top layer of the revetted bunker had a small nick taken out of it \u2026 and that\u2019s the portion he clipped! So a little bit to either side, and the ball was back at his feet too. He\u2019ll have a putt for a record-breaking 61, albeit from long distance!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A dispatch from the Guardian\u2019s golf correspondent Ewan Murray, straight from Royal Birkdale \u2026<\/p>\n double quotation markBryson DeChambeau has arrived at Royal Birkdale, shortly after 2pm and less than 90 minutes before his tee off time. This will mean a short range session for the Open\u2019s man of the moment. Then again, he was whacking balls out there in darkness last night so maybe he feels further practise is needless.<\/p>\n Mark Dardon, the chief executive of the R&A, has just appeared on Sky to assert DeChambeau\u2019s penalty of yesterday evening was \u201cclear cut.\u201d Which leaves us all to ponder why neither Darbon nor any of his officials would field questions on the incident immediately after it happened.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ryan Fox keeps on keepin\u2019 on! He kind of zig-zags his way down the par-five 17th, driving into the fescue on the left, sending his second into the rough on the right. But he chips close with his third, and tidies up for his ninth birdie of the day! He\u2019s now eight under for his round, and the same score for the tournament overall. A par up the last, and he\u2019ll be equalling the men\u2019s major low round of 62, which Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns shot yesterday. Either way, what a performance, and one he could sell for cash money to the late starters \u2026 especially as the wind is expected to rise a little, as per the pattern on Thursday and Friday.<\/p>\n -8: Fox (17), Herbert Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rory McIlroy meanwhile didn\u2019t get the fast start he was talking about in his post-round interviews last night. Bogeys at 3 and 4, and the Masters champion looked a busted flush for this championship. But he\u2019s responded in spectacular fashion: birdie at 5, then a chip-in from the side of 9 for eagle! He drove that green on the gettable par-four on both of his first two rounds, but it\u2019s only when he missed it that he\u2019s hit paydirt. That\u2019s golf for you! He\u2019s suddenly -2 and not out of this by any means. Not with the conditions as they are.<\/p>\n Rory McIlroy rues his missed putt for par on the 4th. Photograph: Andrew Boyers\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.21 EDT<\/p>\n As for the actual golf, the big news this morning is the performance of Ryan Fox. The temperature has dropped a little \u2013 down to around the 20C mark and lower during the night \u2013 so there\u2019s a bit more moisture in the air. That\u2019s not made a jot of difference to the fairways, but it has made the greens a tad more receptive. So there\u2019s every chance of some very low scoring today, as yesterday. And the 39-year-old Kiwi, whose best finish at the Open was a tie for 16th in 2019, is on a burner. Birdies at 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 sent him out in 29 strokes \u2013 one off the championship record (28) set by Denis Durnian here in 1983 \u2013 and he\u2019s since added more birdies at 10, 14 and 16. Just the one bogey at 13, so with two holes to play, he\u2019s on for a 63 if he pars home. Fox, incidentally, is a past master at going on a tear-up at the Open: he\u2019s already joint holder of the record for lowest back nine, 29 at Portrush in 2019, a score subsequently matched by Lee Westwood last year.<\/p>\n Ryan Fox on the 15th. Photograph: David Cannon\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.25 EDT<\/p>\n Good afternoon, patrons, and with perfect timing, here comes Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, to have a word with Sky Sports on that rules infraction. \u201cWe have a clear process \u2026 an unfortunate set of circumstances \u2026 from a rules perspective this was really clear cut \u2026 we communicated it to Bryson \u2026 we understand there\u2019s some emotion around that \u2026 we can all empathise with it \u2026 but from a rules perspective this played out as we would hope it would.\u201d<\/p>\n As for the man himself, DeChambeau is on the property, so if there was any residual concern of his not teeing it up, that can be put to bed. So we can all move on. That\u2019ll never be mentioned again, then. Eh?<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Welcome to Moving Day at the 154th Open Championship! After 36 holes<\/a>, the top of the leaderboard looked like this \u2026<\/p>\n
-6: Fleetwood (7), SW Kim (4), Burns (3), Gerard (2), C Young (2), Suber (1)
-5: Neergaard-Petersen (13), Scheffler (7), Detry (4)<\/p>\n
-6: Suber, C Young, Gerard
-5: Matsuyama (17), Neergaard-Petersen (12), Fleetwood (5), Detry (2), SW Kim (1)<\/p>\n
-6: Suber, C Young, Gerard
-5: Im (10), Burns, DeChambeau, Kim
-4: Schauffele (F), Thomas (15), Matsuyama (15), Neergaard-Petersen (9), Reed (7), Perez (5), Lowry (4), Fleetwood (2), Scheffler (1), Molinari (1), Wallace, Cauley, Detry, MacIntyre, A Fitzpatrick<\/p>\n
Rickie Fowler (2023 US Open, Valhalla)
Xander Schauffele (2023 US Open, Valhalla; 2024 PGA Championship, LA Country Club)
Shane Lowry (2024 PGA Championship, LA Country Club)
Lucas Herbert (2026 Open, Birkdale)
Sam Burns (2026 Open, Birkdale)
Ryan Fox (2026 Open, Birkdale)<\/p>\n
-6: Suber, C Young, Gerard
-5: Smith (7), Neergaard-Petersen (5), Burns, DeChambeau, Kim<\/p>\n