Matthew Fitzpatrick got himself back in the hunt by reaching six under, while fellow British hope Tyrrell Hatton impressed to finish day two on eight under; watch The 150th Open throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports' dedicated Open channel
Friday 15 July 2022 18:36, UK
Matthew Fitzpatrick admits his US Open triumph has given him the confidence to believe he can win The Open this weekend after the Englishman put himself in contention with a fine round-two performance.
The recently-crowned Brookline champion fired seven birdies to rise up the leaderboard at St Andrews and position himself on six under, having been frustrated across a round of 72 on Thursday.
Fitzpatrick birdied two of his final five holes in Boston to fend off the threat of playing partner Will Zalatoris and world No 1 Scottie Scheffler on his way towards lifting the Wanamaker Trophy.
"I feel different [since the US Open]," he said. "I can compete, and I can win. It's definitely been a positive. It doesn't hold me back. It's not something I'm nervous about. I've got to show myself a bit more. Yeah, it's just given me that extra confidence, I guess."
A highlight of Fitzpatrick's second round came at the 16th when he holed a 67-foot putt on a day that saw him and others seemingly find more joy on what have proven tricky greens.
The 27-year-old endured a mixed opening day that included just three birdies alongside three bogeys across a round that lasted upwards of six hours.
"I didn't really get anything going yesterday," he said. "Played solid tee to green but found it hard to get near some of the flags with the wind and the firmness. The rain helped things today. I gave myself plenty of chances and took most of them.
"I have played well all year and the confidence I have in my game gives me a chance. I am back into it and another round like that tomorrow I will be right in the mix.
"I think this year is a little bit different given my success already and I think if I can keep doing what I've been doing all year there's no reason why I can't give myself a chance."
On the topic of slow play on the Old Course, Fitzpatrick, who had labelled it "a joke", echoed his frustration on Friday after another lengthy day.
"It was one of those, I knew it was going to be long," he said. "Billy (Foster) had warned me. I played the Dunhill here, which I know is super long as well. So I knew - I didn't really mind waiting. It wasn't that that was the issue.
"It's the issue that it is taking like six hours and nothing's done about it. I know there isn't anything to do about it, but I don't know, I guess it's just about the golf course. I don't know, maybe it needs tweaks. I don't know what the answer is.
"But it just shouldn't take six hours and nine minutes to get round. Like I don't care where you play. I just think that's stupid."
Tyrrell Hatton emerged as England's other contender at the top of the leaderboard after shooting a round of 66 to finish eight under heading into day three.
"I think the fact that I'm here for the weekend is a nice thing," he said. "My two previous Opens here, we were obviously going home early. So it's nice to walk up 18 and not have to worry about that.
"But, yeah, see a decent round of golf. Nice birdie on six got my momentum going. And we had a good stretch there, making a few birdies. So pretty happy with that and hoping I can have a good weekend now."
Hatton flourished in the latter stages of the front nine going into his back nine with four birdies in five holes, notably producing a 35-footer at the 10th.
He later defended the difficulty of the course and pointed out the pin placement the R&A had paid close attention to in preparation for The Open.
"I mean, even without that much wind, there's a few pins that you literally can't get within 15 feet of," he said. "You need a bit of wind with some of them to get close.
"There's obviously a lot of talk about the scoring being ridiculously low at the start of the week. But the greens are pretty mental.
"They can put the pins in some crazy spots, and that slows down scoring in itself. Although you've got shorter shots, it's still really hard to hit it close."
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