A birdie putt on the 13th moves the Dane to six under for the weekend, ahead of Hatton. Harman joins him with a birdie on ten — he’s also four under for the round.
After a strong front nine, with three birdies and a bogey, Hatton has joined Harman on five under. Rasmus Hojgaard joins them with his fourth birdie of the day on the 12th.
I’m now at the far end of Royal Portrush, where thankfully I have also been able to pick up a phone signal (Stuart Fraser writes). It is always one of the biggest logistical challenges on these vast courses trying to remain in contact.
This is such a beautiful part of the course. McIlroy’s rented mansion sits beside the fourth fairway, with his family and staff gathering together in the garden to watch him go by. Then it is down to the fifth green down by the Atlantic Ocean, with tremendous views towards the Scottish island of Islay. A recommended spot if you are coming to watch this weekend.
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Bob MacIntyre enjoying a great morning
A third birdie of the round for the Scotsman takes him to three under, two shots behind the leader Brian Harman. He looks in fine fettle here — might he be the home nation hope?
Rickie Fowler takes the aggressive line
The home favourite is having another rollercoaster round. He’s level par for the round and one under overall. He’s gone birdie, par, bogey, birdie, bogey, par. He needs to find more consistency here if he wants to cap his homecoming.
Brian Harman takes the lead
Harris English has dropped a shot on the fourth, meaning Harman is out on his own on five under.
Brian Harman rejoins lead
A birdie on the seventh means the American joins his compatriot, English, in the lead on five under.
A poor tee shot from Rory McIlroy
The fifth tee rewards those brave enough to try and drive the green, as Bob MacIntyre and Bryson De Chambeau have just shown. However, McIlroy has managed to draw one far to the left and ended up in a pot bunker, which will make his life rather difficult. You could hear the frustration in his voice as he acknowledged it. Never makes it easy, does he?
Rory McIlroy birdies the fourth
A big cheer on the fourth as McIlroy redeems himself at the first time of asking after that bogey on the third. Beautifully played, particularly his second shot, and he’s back to two under.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceHarris English moves into the lead
The American moves to five under and into the outright lead with a birdie on the second, followed by a nice approach shot off the tee on the third.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceAgonising for Justin Thomas
The American’s ball is teetering on the lip of the cup – a breath of wind would usher it in for birdie, but he has to knock it in for par.
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In the same group, McIlroy has missed a par putt and has to settle for bogey at the third.
Bob MacIntyre drives the green
There’s a big booming drive on the aggressive line from MacIntyre, which rolls nicely and settles in a lovely position. Bryson DeChambeau follows up with a typically huge shot and lands in a similar position.
Handy to have a watchful eye
I’m out following Rory McIlroy this morning (Stuart Fraser writes). Once again there are huge crowds surrounding the holes, with the locals truly living every shot that he hits.
One advantage of having so many eyes trained on McIlroy’s ball is that it is easier to find after an errant drive. This was evident on the second hole, with spectators immediately pointing towards the landing point deep within the thick rough. There is no way a regular Monday fourball would ever have found that.
He’s pulled that one out of the fire… a far more positive start than yesterday. After finding thick rough and taking a penalty drop off the tee, McIlroy’s approach is lovely and he rolls in for par on the 580-yard second.
Tyrrell Hatton joins leaders
A birdie at the third has moved Hatton to four under overall and into the joint lead. The pin placement on the third means there’ll be a fair few birdies made there today.
WARREN LITTLE/GETTY IMAGES
The man who finished second behind McIlroy at Augusta has had an excellent start, making a birdie at the third to move him to three under overall.
Rory McIlroy’s lucky escape
The Northern Irishman’s tee shot on the second has flown to the right, and landed in bounds by about a foot in some very thick rough. He’ll do well to get anything out of this hole, but it could have been a lot worse.
McIlroy had to go hunting for his ball
DAVID FITZGERALD/SPORTSFILE
He’s taken the penalty, and this will be his third shot on the par-five second. He’s played an aggressive line and has found the fairway short of the green.
It’s clear who everyone is here to see…
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Rory McIlroy opens with a birdie
The Masters champion is off to a great start, nailing his 17ft birdie putt on the first green. He’ll be happy with that.
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The opening tee shot of the round at Portrush is one of the most troublesome in the world… Here’s an illustration of the contrasting fortunes for every player yesterday from the good folks at Golf Digest.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceRickie Fowler takes the aggressive line
Brian Harman has got off to a flier this morning, making a birdie at both the first and second, and a par on the third. He’s four under so far.
Rory McIlroy is under way
The Masters champion is given a raucous cheer at the tee as his name is called out. His tee shot is far better than yesterday’s, which landed out of bounds. This one flies flat and lands in the semi-rough to the left of the fairway.
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There’s a huge greeting for the Northern Irish hero from the crowd at the first tee grandstand. He’s alongside Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood.
Early in the second round, the projected cut to make the weekend is two over par.
Bob MacIntyre begins second round
Scotland’s top golfer, who finished second at the US Open to JJ Spaun last month, is under way on level par, and sends his drive straight and true. He’s alongside Bryson DeChambeau, who yesterday had his worst single round at a major, finishing seven over. He draws his tee shot nicely and it settles on the fairway.
Of this group, Justin Rose had the best of it yesterday, carding two under. He gets a warm reception from the Northern Irish crowd after his ding dong battle with McIlroy at the Masters in April. His tee shot goes a similar way, a very assured shot.
The fiery Englishman is under way at Portrush after an excellent first round yesterday. He sends his drive straight enough — it’s just settled in the semi-rough to the left. Not a bad start.
Joaquin Niemann out of bounds off the first
The first tee is causing a bit of trouble, with the exceptional young Chilean hooking his drive to the left and skittling out of bounds through the legs of spectators. He sends his next tee shot straight down the fairway. Wonder why he couldn’t do that the first time?
After the painfully slow pace of play yesterday, it will be interesting to see if the groups move quicker today (Stuart Fraser writes). The first threeball, out at 6.35am, is through 11 holes after almost three hours, which is reasonable, but we will see if this keeps up as the day progresses.
One possible factor yesterday is the removal of dedicated bunker rakers. Usually one person is assigned to each group and will take care of the clean-up duties after a player hits out of the sand, saving the caddy time and effort. This year, however, the R&A has decided to end this practice without publicly giving a specific reason. The suspicion is that organisers were keen to cut down on the number of people inside the ropes in a bid to improve the spectating and viewing experience.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout picks up a birdie
After a disappointing bogey on the first, the South African has rectified it at the first opportunity with a birdie at the second. He’s just driven the green on the par-three third, but a hard bounce takes it away from the pin.
Less than an hour till Rory…
The Masters champion is loosening up on the driving range in preparation for his tee time at 10.09 this morning. The grandstand at the first tee is filling up in anticipation for his homecoming, but the Northern Irishman will be hoping for a better first effort after going out of bounds yesterday.
Specks of rain are appearing on the cameras at Portrush, and a few brollies are sprouting up here and there. Just a summer’s day on the Co Antrim coast.
Marc Leishman finds four shots in second round
The Australian has just made his fourth birdie of the round on the tenth to take him to two under for the week. His huge drive off the tee flew 328 yards, 112 from the pin. A straightforward putt from ten feet has pushed him further up the leaderboard — he’s having the best round of anyone out there so far.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceKeegan Bradley eagles the second
After a monster 313-yard drive, the American Ryder Cup captain finds a lovely 263-yard iron to the back of the green, just beyond the pin. He duly drops it in to take his overall score to one under.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout drops a shot
The moustachioed South African has pushed his putt wide for an early bogey. Not the best start.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout is under way
One of the clubhouse leaders has got going, and found the green on the first in three for a more than sinkable putt to start his day with a par.
Ethan Fang finds another birdie
The 20-year-old amateur is having quite the morning — he’s three under through five for his second round, taking him to one over overall. He’s got a par three and a par five waiting for him.
CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES
Rickie Fowler takes the aggressive line
The 36-year-old has just driven the green on the par-four fifth, which helps him secure his first birdie of the day, taking him to two under.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceFans gather at Royal Portrush
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to descend on the Co Antrim coast this week, probably a record crowd for the Open.
Some intrepid youngsters were searching for the ultimate souvenir at the 18th green yesterday — one of the player’s balls.
Bud Cauley hits triple bogey
The 420-yard par four first at Portrush has done for the American. After finding out of bounds off the tee, he ended up in the rough, misjudged his shot for the right of the green, hoping to find the contour to give it legs towards the pin, but it went the wrong way and found the rough. A chip in skids just past the cup, and the return putt goes agonisingly wide. A tough start, and he probably won’t be the only one to suffer there today.
Ethan Fang makes back-to-back birdies
The 20-year-old American amateur has found two birdies to start his second round after a round of four over yesterday. The second came with a nicely made putt from about 15ft.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceLee Westwood off to strong start
The Englishman has never won a major, but had an excellent round yesterday, with his wife Helen on his bag guiding him round Royal Portrush. He holds the unenviable record of most major appearances without a win, on 92. But yesterday he shot two under, and gets his second round under way at 1.15pm.
Read Stuart Fraser’s full piece on Westwood’s pursuit to shed the nearly man tag.
Weather forecast at Royal Portrush
It looks as though it’ll be a bit brighter in Co Antrim today, but there’s still some rain around and southerly breezes of about 12mph, according to the Met Office. The later groups will probably need their brollies, with darkening skies and higher chances of rain.
Of course, one of the key features of playing at Portrush is the ability to adapt to the changeable conditions.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceThe Buddhist monk finding divine inspiration
While some of the world’s best players were losing their cool at Royal Portrush yesterday, Sadom Kaewkanjana, the Thai world No262 stayed calm and sunk a 63ft putt at the ominous Calamity Corner to sit one off the lead.
Read Tom Kershaw’s full story here.
Selected tee times for round twoAll times BST 7.08am: Ethan Fang (a) (US), Rickie Fowler (US), Adam Scott (Aus)7.19am: Laurie Canter (Eng), Elvis Smylie (Aus), Sergio Garcia (Spa)8.36am: Christiaan Bezuidenhout (SA), Rasmus Hojgaard (Den), Romain Langasque (Fra)8.47am: Aaron Rai (Eng), Sahith Theegala (US), Harry Hall (Eng)9.25am: Brian Harman (US), Maverick McNealy (US), Joaquin Niemann (Chile)9.36am: Tyrrell Hatton (Eng), Russell Henley (US), Min Woo Lee (Aus)9.47am: Bryson De Chambeau (US), Bob MacIntyre (Sco), Justin Rose (Eng)9.58am: Ludvig Aberg (Swe), Viktor Hovland (Nor), Jordan Spieth (US)10.09am: Tommy Fleetwood (Eng), Rory McIlroy (N Ire), Justin Thomas (US)10:20am: Harris English (US), Nick Taylor (Can), Tony Finau (US)11.26am: Padraig Harrington (Ire), Nicolai Hojgaard (Den), Tom McKibbin (N Ire)12.09pm: Jacob Skov Olsen (Den), Jason Day (Aus), Taylor Pendrith (Can)12.42pm: Jordan Smith (Eng), Haotong Li (Chi), Dustin Johnson (US)1.15pm: Lee Westwood (Eng), Thomas Detry (Bel), Chris Gotterup (US)1.37pm: Matthew Jordan (Eng), Thorbjorn Olesen (Den), Filip Jakubcik (a) (Cze)2.26pm: Matt Fitzpatrick (Eng), Hideki Matsuyama (Japan), Ryan Fox (Aus)2.59pm: John Rahm (Spa), Xander Schauffele (US), JJ Spaun (US)3.10pm: Shane Lowry (Ire), Scottie Scheffler (US), Collin Morikawa (US)4.16pm: Sadom Kaewkanjana (Thai), Riki Kawamoto (Japan), Sampson Zheng (Chi)
Hello and welcome along to the Times’ live coverage of round two of the Open at Royal Portrush. It was an intriguing day yesterday, with the Co Antrim weather and a notoriously difficult course combining to create tough conditions which more than tested the world’s best.
The top of the leaderboard makes for an eclectic list of names, with five players, including England’s Matt Fitzpatrick, holding the clubhouse lead at four under after the first one. Tyrrell Hatton and Matthew Jordan, two more Englishmen, are three under, while the home favourite Rory McIlroy shot one under after a topsy turvy round.
The 2019 winner here Shane Lowry is also on one under.
Stay tuned for all the latest updates and analysis from our team of writers on the course at Royal Portrush.