The Open: Scottie Scheffler holds halfway lead over Matt FItzpatrick with Rory McIlroy chasing at Royal Portrush
Scottie Scheffler one ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick, with Brian Harman and Haotong Li tied-third; Tyrrell Hatton and Bob MacIntyre share fifth place, with Grand Slam champion Rory McIlroy seven behind on home soil; Watch The Open this weekend live on Sky Sports Golf
By Ali Stafford at Royal Portrush
Last Updated: 19/07/25 8:52am
Scottie Scheffler lived up to his billing as pre-tournament favourite at The 153rd Open by jumping ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick and grabbing the halfway lead at Royal Portrush.
Scheffler, chasing a second major win and fourth PGA Tour title of the season, took advantage of the best of the conditions on Friday afternoon to card a brilliant second-round 64 and move to 10 under.
The world No 1 birdied two of his last three holes to edge ahead of Fitzpatrick, who fired five-under 66 to set the initial clubhouse target and raise hopes of a first English winner in The Open since 1992, with 2023 champion Brian Harman two back in tied-third alongside Haotong Li.
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Ryder Cup team-mates Tyrrell Hatton and Bob MacIntyre are in the group in tied-fifth that contains Rasmus Hojgaard, with his brother Nicolai Hojgaard also inside the top 10, while Rory McIlroy remains in contention as he chases a home victory in Northern Ireland.
McIlroy heads into the weekend on three under alongside Team USA Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley, with defending champion Xander Schauffele a further stroke back and Bryson DeChambeau battling into the weekend after a second-round 65.
Scheffler and Fitzpatrick star at Royal Portrush
Fitzpatrick holed a 10-foot birdie at the first but three-putted the next for par, only to close on the leaders by making birdies either side of a three-putt bogey at the driveable par-four fifth.
He cancelled out a close-range birdie at the par-five seventh by bogeying the next, reaching the turn in 34, then charged up the leaderboard when he rolled in from 15 feet at the tenth to spark a run of four consecutive birdies.
Fitzpatrick held a two-shot advantage until he missed from five feet to save par at the 14th and squandered a four-foot birdie putt at the 17th, but clung onto the outright advantage after holing from 23 feet at the par-four last to scramble an unlikely par.
Scheffler found just three fairways in his opening-round 68 but quickly moved made his move in a better driving display on Friday afternoon, birdieing the first and fifth before converting from 35 feet at the par-three sixth.
The reigning PGA Champion added another at the seventh and opened his back nine with a 10-foot birdie, with Scheffler bouncing back from a blemish at the 11th to birdie both par-threes on the back nine to pull level with Fitzpatrick.
Scheffler took the outright advantage with a 15-foot birdie at the par-four 17th but left an effort to double his lead short at the last, with the three-time major champion now primed to become the first world No 1 to win The Open since Tiger Woods' title defence in 2006.
Ryder Cup stars and major champions in chasing pack
Hatton carded a two-under 69 to move to five under and MacIntyre also closed within five of the lead after a second-round 66, with Hojgaard, overnight co-leader Harris English and last week's Genesis Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup also sharing fifth.
McIlroy produced an improved performance off the tee to register two birdies in a bogey-free back nine, ensuring he avoided a repeat of the missed cut he experienced here in 2019, with English duo Lee Westwood and Jordan Smith also on three under.
A strong English contingent inside the top-20 sees Matthew Jordan, Harry Hall and Justin Rose all on two under with last year's winner Schauffele, with Tommy Fleetwood a further shot back after carding a three-under 68 in the same group as McIlroy.
The 2019 champion Shane Lowry was assessed a two-shot penalty post-round after his ball moved on a practice swing at the 12th, dropping him back to the group on level par that contains Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Phil Mickelson.
Scheffler 'proud' as Fitzpatrick relishes major contention
Scottie Scheffler (-10), speaking to Sky Sports: "I felt like I did a lot of things well - holed a lot of nice putts, played some nice iron shots, hit more fairways than yesterday. I am pretty proud.
"I feel I am hitting the ball pretty solid and I am excited for the rest of the tournament. We are only halfway done."
Matt Fitzpatrick (-9): "Given myself an opportunity to win the golf tournament, but there's still a hell of a long way to go.
"Obviously the aim of the game is to stay in it for as long as possible and hopefully you can pull away right at the death. I'm obviously 50 per cent there. We'll see what the weekend brings."
Rory McIlroy (-3): "I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited for that.
"I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run. I'm excited for the weekend."
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