Scottie Scheffler stepped onto the first tee at Royal Portrush on Friday afternoon just as the heavens opened wide. Those out in front of him at the 2025 Open Championship were treated with ideal scoring conditions as possible storms bypassed the property allowing birdies to fly onto the scorecards of contenders in the morning wave.
Even amid the on again, off again rain — and the tug and pull that this par 71 forces upon players — Scheffler carded not only the low round of the day and championship but the low round of his major championship career when he tapped in for par on the 18th hole for a 7-under 64.
“It was super sunny when we were on the driving range. I’m out there in short sleeves; it’s warm out,” Scheffler said. “Then we get to the 1st hole, it’s still sunny. Then, all of a sudden, you look around and it’s super dark and it starts pouring rain. You’re like, boy, I wonder how long this is going to last.
“Fortunately, it didn’t pour the whole time. We only had maybe four or five holes where it was really coming down, and I was able to take advantage of the holes where we had some good weather.”
The mark was good enough for Scheffler’s name to skyrocket up the leaderboard Friday afternoon — past the likes of major champions Matt Fitzpatrick and Brian Harman. It was good enough to give Scheffler his 19th career 36-hole lead on the PGA Tour, his fourth this season and fourth in a major championship.
Perhaps even more importantly, it was good enough to remind the masses that this championship is not between Scheffler and Fitzpatrick or Tyrrell Hatton or Rory McIlroy should the Northern Irishman play himself into the weekend mix.
No, the final 36 holes of this championship come down to one man and one man only.
“The pressure, he’s going to have the expectation to go out and dominate,” Fitzpatrick said of his Saturday playing partner. “He’s an exceptional player. He’s world No. 1, and we’re seeing Tiger [Woods]-like stuff. I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament.”
During a week that began with Scheffler voicing his deepest thoughts about the journey, the destination and where joy and satisfaction may ultimately lie, the three-time major champion has continued to walk to the beat of his own drum. He credits a continuous assessment for his game and his love for the grind for a switch to the claw grip with his putter in hand this winter.
“I always kind of assess things and see if there’s ways we can improve. … It was something we felt could help us improve,” Scheffler said. “And so far, it has.”
The results have been stellar in 2025, but questions remained how this assessment would translate to the test that links golf provides. The Scottish Open offered little hope as Scheffler remained perplexed with his putter at the Renaissance Club, but through two rounds at Royal Portrush, he has been king of the greens leading the way and gaining six strokes on his counterparts.
After a historic season in 2024 that included another Masters title, another Players Championship, an Olympic gold medal and plenty more, the top player in the game went back to the drawing board to figure out where improvement lied and made a move most would not make, but it’s a move that separates Scheffler and his line of thought from his peers. It’s also a move that has helped him separate from the pack heading into the weekend of the final major championship of the year.
Another Friday fever dream
In 2023, Harman fired a Friday 65 to command a five-stroke lead heading into the weekend at Royal Liverpool. Two years later — with one Claret Jug secured thanks to his play at Hoylake — the left hander finds himself in a somewhat similar position as he carded a bogey-free 65 in Round 2 at Royal Portrush to surge up the leaderboard.
That weekend, the British press became enamored with Harman’s hobbies outside the ropes, and that remained front of mind as the American stepped off the golf course this Friday.
“Yeah, big hunter, big fisherman,” Harman said. “I was surprised at — yeah, I was surprised a little bit. I was curious why everyone was asking so many questions about it. I didn’t realize that everyone was so upset about it. It’s a hill I’ll die on, and … I’ll sleep like a baby at night.”
Unbothered and unblemished, Harman has the look of a man who could raise his second Claret Jug in the last three years as his ball striking has been superb through 36 holes. If he were to go onto win, Harman would join Arnold Palmer, Padraig Harrington, Greg Norman, Ernie Els and Lee Trevino as men with two Open victories since World War II.
“I would love to have a similar weekend and just play great the whole way through,” Harman continued. “There’s going to be challenges. This is a hard golf course. The pins have been in really, really tough spots, and you’ve really got to think your way around it. Inevitably, you’re going to mis-hit some shots and end up in spots you don’t want to be in, and the way you handle that will determine the outcome of the tournament for sure.”
More than one way to prepare
Hatton spent his Wednesday evening at a local pitch and putt playing a laidback game with five of his friends. They followed the round with a few pints, and it is this preparation that Hatton credits for his strong opening round, so much so that he plans to run it back.
“We played, I think, in a six-ball, and it was nice to just take your mind off part of the stress of this week. It was nice to actually go out there and almost feel like a kid and just enjoy it,” he said. “I feel it’s easy to miss that when you’re just going tournament to tournament. Yeah, it was really fun. It was a beautiful evening. I went and had three pints of Guinness afterwards, so that kind of made the evening a bit better.”
While additional golf may not be in the cards for the Englishman after his second-round 69 to move to 5 under, more Guinness is as Hatton had the perfect response when asked if he plans to do the same Friday evening.
“Would be rude not to. I think three is the magic number,” Hatton said. “If you go past three, you kind of … Yeah, two to three, because you’re definitely not close to a hangover and you still feel like you’ve got — hopefully I’ve got a late tee time tomorrow so I can have a lay-in, as well.”
Rory’s “first” weekend at Portrush
Well, the championship is already a success when compared to 2019 for the Ulsterman. McIlroy has marched his way into the weekend, and despite some scratchy driving across the first two rounds, the career grand slam winner will have a chance to bookend his historic season with a Claret Jug as he enters the weekend at 3 under.
McIlroy has experienced a stop-and-go sort of tournament to his point as every time some momentum is garnered, a wayward miss or a misread putt seems to follow shortly after. There are places to clean up — particularly the par-5 scoring — but you best believe, if McIlroy gets off to a tidy start on Saturday, everyone on the property will know about it.
“I feel like I let myself down more than I let the fans down, but I definitely felt like it was … a hard pill to swallow, but at the same time, I left myself too much to do,” McIlroy said. “Then this time, yeah, I’ve just gotten better. I know what I need to do to get the best out of myself in an environment like that. I’ve been somewhat close to my best over the first two days in little bits here and there. I’m going to need to have it all under control and have it sort of all firing over the weekend to make a run.
“It’s incredible to play in front of these fans … never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d be coming back as a grand slam champion with the support of a nation behind me trying to win an Open Championship. I count myself very grateful and very lucky that I’m in this position, and I’m excited for the weekend.”
Twinning
It’s going to be a busy weekend of watching golf for the Hojgaard family as brothers Rasmus and Nicolai find themselves inside the top 10 on the leaderboard at the halfway point. Early on Friday, Rasmus was the one to set the family pace as he got into the clubhouse at 5 under — a total which Nicolai fell just one stroke short of match.
“It’s cool to see Ras playing well this week,” Nicolai said. “I saw him quite early on the leaderboard, and I kind of wanted to follow it up. A little frustrated I didn’t manage to get to 5 where he is. I felt like the round had potential. But yeah, happy for him.”
Nicolai and Rasmus have had differing careers as their peaks never seem to coincide. Nicolai was a member of the European Ryder Cup team in 2023, while Rasmus won the Irish Open and earned his PGA Tour card the following year. This season has not been either of their best but they did finish runner up together at the Zurich Classic.
“I’m going to root for him until we are on Sunday back nine,” Rasmus said.
Playing captain becoming more likely
Who are the top five Americans in golf at the moment? Scheffler tops the charts, sure, but behind him the question may be met with varying answers with Keegan Bradley likely finding his way into the conversation. While the topic of his playing captaincy is based on the top 12 players, the U.S. Ryder Cup team leader is largely inside that mark.
Take his Open performance, for example, as Bradley has endured a brutal links golf résumé up until this week where he enters the second portion of this tournament at 3 under and within striking distance. He credits his rejuvenated short game and subsequent well-roundedness for the improvement and as more performances like these continues to stack up, the unlikely playing captain seems to becoming inevitable.
“No, it certainly won’t be easy,” Bradley said. “Nothing about picking whoever it is is going to be easy, but if I get to that position and I feel like I’m going to help the team, then I’ll consider playing. But I really get asked that question 10 times a day, and I don’t really have an answer. I want to obviously wait until the time comes to pick the players and see how I’m doing, and if there’s somebody that is playing great that can take my spot, I’ll be thrilled for that. I just want to put the best team on the course at Bethpage.”
Unlikely path to red figures
Rickie Fowler is ranked No. 114 in the Official World Golf Rankings and without a major top 20 since the 2023 U.S. Open, so how did he get in the field? Well, Fowler parlayed some good fortune from a spot in one field to a spot into this field.
Receiving a sponsor’s invitation into the Memorial — part of The Open Qualifying Series — Fowler finished T7 at Jack’s Place to secure one of the spots in the field at Royal Portrush. While some may begroan about this path, Fowler is finding his way along it just fine. With rounds of 69-72, the American is in red figures heading into the weekend in a championship he has fared well in throughout his career.
“I feel like I’ve always been creative and had a good imagination when it comes to hitting golf shots,” Fowler said. “Growing up on a flat driving range, kind of had to picture different things and hit different shots. Over here, there’s obstacles out there, but you have to at times be able to see the shot and you have to execute it as well. But I find it a lot of fun, this place being a little bit different because it’s a little more in the air than a lot of links courses.
“But there’s always a few different shots you can hit, and then you can make all of them work, but it’s sticking to the one you pick and executing. I find it fun because there’s so many different variables from how much the ball bounces, whether it’s downwind, using the wind or not. I think it’s the variables part of it as well as you throw the wind in there, and then I’m not a big fan of the rain, but that’s a big variable when it comes into play.”
Bryson’s bounce back
It was a 13-stroke improvement from Thursday to Friday from Bryson DeChambeau, similar to what McIlroy achieved in 2019 in Portrush. Crawling back from his 78 with a sensational 65 to stand at 1 over for the week, the two-time U.S. Open champion avoided back-to-back early exits in this championship and in major championships following his surprising missed cut at Oakmont.
DeChambeau gained 5.50 more strokes with the irons in Round 2 compared to Round 1 and carded seven birdies following an opening shutout. Despite his play looking much sharper and his round much tighter, the big-hitting right hander was adamant not much changed.
“I’ve played the same as I did yesterday,” DeChambeau said. “That’s links golf for you. I executed pretty much the same shots as I did yesterday. I didn’t feel like I played any different. Today, they just kind of went more my way. My wedges were just a fraction better and that was really it. Made a couple more putts. Just really felt like I was rolling it well today. There wasn’t much different. That’s why links golf is the way links golf is.”