Matt Fitzpatrick’s impressive second-round 66 put him in an excellent position to end the 33-year wait for an English winner of the Open, but he will have to get past the daunting figure of world No 1 Scottie Scheffler if he is to end the drought.
Just minutes after the 2022 US Open champion returned to the top of a major leaderboard, having posted a nine-under-par total at Royal Portrush, his American rival reeled off back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 to snatch the lead from the Sheffield golfer’s grasp.
Advertisement
May’s US PGA winner looked in ominous form in getting to 10 under – his round of 64 included eight birdies, a missed putt at the last for another and just one bogey – and he looked as unruffled as ever, even as the heaviest rain of the week drenched the links for a good 45 minutes.
The last world No 1 to lead or share the lead after 36 holes of an Open was Tiger Woods in 2006, and he went on to win.
“I’m giving myself an opportunity to win the golf tournament, but there’s still a hell of a long way to go,” said Fitzpatrick, who will play alongside Scheffler in Saturday’s final group.
When is the Open?
The tournament begins on Thursday, July 17 with the final round on Sunday, July 20.
Advertisement
How do I watch the Open?
Sky Sports have exclusive rights to live television coverage in the UK. On Thursday and Friday, coverage will begin at 6.30am with at least 15 hours of live coverage each day. There will be later start times of 11am for live coverage on Saturday and 10am on Sunday.
What is the prize money?
The winner at Royal Portrush will receive £2.3 million from a total prize pot of £12.7 million.
The runner-up will get £1.3 million and third place £840,000.
Third round tee times
All times British Summer Time
9:35 am
Corey Conners
Matti Schmid
9:45am
Hideki Matsuyama
Sepp Straka
9:55am
Adrien Saddier
Takumi Kanaya
Advertisement
10:05am
Henrik Stenson
Sebastian Soderberg
10:15am
Jacob Skov Olesen
Thomas Detry
10:25am
Bryson DeChambeau
Nathan Kimsey
10:35am
Thirston Lawrence
Maverick McNealy
10:45am
John Parry
Justin Leonard
11am
Sergio Garcia
Andrew Novak
11:10am
Francesco Molinari
Jesper Svensson
11:20am
Wyndham Clark
Riki Kawamoto
11:30am
Jon Rahm
Shane Lowry
11:40am
Dustin Johnson
J.J. Spaun
11:50am
Jhonattan Vegas
Phil Mickelson
12pm
Jordan Spieth
Viktor Hovland
12:15pm
Antonio Rozner
Russell Henley
12:25pm
Daniel Berger
Romain Langasque
12:35pm
Dean Burmester
Sungjae Im
12:45pm
Akshay Bhatia
Matt Wallace
12:55pm
Lucas Glover
Jason Kokrak
Advertisement
1:05pm
Justin Thomas
Tommy Fleetwood
1:15pm
Rickie Fowler
Aaron Rai
1:30pm
Oliver Lindell
Marc Leishman
1:40 p.m./8:40 a.m.
Xander Schauffele
Ryggs Johnston
1:50pm
Matthew Jordan
Kristoffer Reitan
2pm
Justin Rose
Ludvig Aberg
2:10pm
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Harry Hall
2:20pm
Lee Westwood
Sam Burns
2:30pm
Rory McIlroy
Jordan Smith
2:45pm
Nicolai Hojgaard
Keegan Bradley
2:55pm
Chris Gotterup
Tony Finau
3:05pm
Robert MacIntyre
Harris English
3:15pm
Rasmus Hojgaard
Tyrrell Hatton
3:25pm
Brian Harman
Haotong Li
3:35pm
Scottie Scheffler
Matt Fitzpatrick