Key events<\/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
Share<\/a><\/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 Share<\/a><\/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: Stuart Kerr\/R&A\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.41 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: 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