Two days worth of golf are in the books at Royal Portrush, as Scottie Scheffler holds a one-shot lead in The Open Championship across the pond in Northern Ireland. Matt Fitzpatrick is only one shot back after a solid 5-under showing on Friday, as the players got some decent conditions and many were able to go low, including Scheffler, whose 7-under 64 was the round of the day. Brian Harman and Haotong Li are tied for third at 8-under, while Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup fired a 6-under to move into the top five.
As always, our VSiN golf analysts had you covered with pre-tournament analysis, but we don’t stop there. We’ll be talking about the action on our live VSiN programming, and we’ll also have some daily notes from our top golf minds. So, keep reading for some second-round observations and third-round predictions.
The Open Championship leaderboard
The Open Championship third-round tee times
The Open Championship latest odds
Matt Youmans
It’s only halftime at the British Open and this shootout in Northern Ireland is not over yet, though many talking heads are ready to declare Scheffler the winner. He’s now the odds-on favorite (-175) at DraftKings and it’s hard to argue. But it’s far from done and the most important holes will be the final nine on Sunday, so resist jumping to conclusions. Twenty-four other players are within eight strokes of the lead and those players are still alive. Just consider the turnaround by Bryson DeChambeau, who shot a comical 78 on Thursday and rebounded with a 65 on Friday, and remember how quickly golf tournaments can change. DeChambeau (+1) is not in the hunt to win, but he did enough to narrowly make the cut.
After putting poorly in Scotland last week and driving erratically in the first round, Scheffler smoothed out the rough edges to fire a 64 to take the lead. He’s not in total control, however, because Fitzpatrick, former British champion Brian Harman and Haotong Li are within two. The group at five back includes some dangerous players — Harris English, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre — capable of making a charge. This is an outstanding leaderboard. I am biased due to having several bets live for the weekend, most notably Scheffler (+600), Fitzpatrick (40-1), Hatton (30-1) and MacIntyre (36-1). Scheffler just posted his lowest career round in a major and that type of performance rarely gets duplicated the next day when some regression typically happens.
I’m basically in an ideal wagering position at this point and don’t need to add anything now. Still, the player who concerns me most is Harman, who’s dialed in off the tee and with his putter. Harman, 12-1 on the adjusted odds board, is worth a look. Harman won the British in 2023 by six shots and obviously has the right style for links golf.
Wes Reynolds
Scottie Scheffler seemingly took control of the 153rd Open Championship on Friday shooting a 7-under round of 64 to carry a one stroke lead into the weekend at -10. The World No. 1 currently leads the field for Strokes Gained: Putting, gaining over six strokes on the field with the putter, and Strokes Gained: Approach, gaining over seven strokes on the field.
Kevin Costner’s character Roy McAvoy in the film “Tin Cup” has a line where he says, “I never miss with the 7-iron.” Well, Scheffler never seems to miss with any of his irons. He is currently priced at -175 to take home the Claret Jug.
Matt Fitzpatrick (+550), one of my pre-tournament tips, will be in the final group with Scheffler on Saturday and is only one stroke back at 9-under including a 24-foot par save on the 18th to finish off a 5-under par round. Fitzpatrick leads the field for Strokes Gained: Around The Green, gaining four strokes on the field.
The penultimate group will include 2023 Champion Golfer of the Year Brian Harman (12/1) and Haotong Li (25/1) two strokes back at 8-under.
A quintet of players goes into the weekend at 5-under and still with a small chance here as Tyrrell Hatton (28/1) and Robert MacIntyre (30/1) – two other pre-tournament bets for me – along with Harris English (65/1), Rasmus Højgaard (75/1), and last week’s Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup (55/1).
As for Rory McIlroy (28/1)? He did actually find some fairways (7/14) and greens (14/18) on Friday and is T-12 at 3-under and cannot be ruled out, but he has some significant ground to make up.
In retrospect, I probably waited a little too long to get in on Scheffler because of my concern for a potential weather bias. Nevertheless, I do not share some of the mainstream golf media’s belief that this is over. The Open can often be the most unpredictable of the four majors.
As for a third round bet, we can go to the Round 3 matchups after going 2-0 in Round 2 matchups.
Kristoffer Reitan (-125) over Matthew Jordan
Reitan made a mess of the final three holes, making two bogeys. However, his ball striking has been substantially better than Jordan over the first two rounds. The Norwegian’s form has also been terrific with a victory (DP World Tour’s Soudal Open in Belgium), two runners-up, a 4th, and two other Top 15 finishes all within his last eight starts.
