The Open 2019: second round – live!
9.57am BST
Like Oosthuizen before him, Spieth follows birdie at 5 with a forensic tee shot at 6. He’ll have a very good look at birdie from eight feet. Up on 7, Koepka sends his ball just over the back of the green with two huge hits. He’ll be thinking about bumping up a chip, or possibly putting, from the swale. An outside eagle chance. Up and down for birdie. Meanwhile back on 2, the co-leader Holmes is pin high in two. A 25-foot eagle putt coming up.
9.53am BST
A first birdie of the day for Jordan Spieth, at 5, and he’s quietly moving back in the right direction after a mid-round wobble yesterday. The 2017 winner is -2. Tommy Fleetwood escapes with his par on 7. Erik van Rooyen is inches away from draining a long birdie putt at 9, but he’ll be content enough to turn in 33. Yet another birdie for An Byeong-hun, his fourth of the day, at 12; he’s -2 and increasingly a factor in this tournament. And Lee Westwood’s birdie effort on 1 is miserable, always turning off to the right. A chance for the fastest of starts spurned.
9.46am BST
Lee Westwood must be thoroughly fed up with his eternal bridesmaid status. With a view to addressing this misery, he sends his approach at the opening hole pin high to ten feet. That’s a lovely shot. Birdie putt coming up that may inform the rest of his round. Meanwhile on 7, Fleetwood is halfway up a steep hill, his feet miles below a snagged ball. Two bunkers in between him and the green. He does extremely well to clip his ball into the swale to the right of the green; a chance to get up and down for par from there.
9.42am BST
A no-sweat par for Holmes at the opening hole. He’s now sharing his lead with Hatton, of course; the Englishman can only par the 7th. They’re both -5. Coming behind, Fleetwood would take that par right now, as he lashes a long iron into the bonny heather well to the right of the green. Halfway up a big slope, he’ll have a puzzle to solve getting back down.
9.38am BST
Back-to-back birdies for Oosthuizen! He follows up his easy-going birdie at the short par-four 5th by swishing an effortless iron towards the flag at the par-three 6th. He’s eight feet away, and in goes the putt. He joins his partner Koepka at -3, the current PGA champion unable to covert a decent opportunity from 12 feet. Par.
9.31am BST
Here comes the overnight leader JB Holmes! Easy to forget that, were it not for the freakish, other-worldly, once-in-a-generation antics of Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson at Troon in 2016, Holmes would already be an Open champion. He was the best of the rest that week, a mere 14 shots shy of Stenson, 11 behind Lefty. OK, OK, but you get the point. A wonderful 66 yesterday, and he opens his second round by splitting the fairway.
9.27am BST
Koepka is really trying it on at 5. If he creams his drive, he’s surely bumping through the green and out of bounds, with the white stakes only a couple of feet behind. So he creams his drive ... and is fortunate that he’s a tad off line, so his ball snags in rough at the front right of the green. Then he chips aggressively, unable to get any spin from the curly kale. His ball is only a few joules of energy shy of rolling through the green and OB. Like Frank Costanza, it stops short. He should escape with par with a couple of putts from the fringe. Yep, four. Lucky Brooks. He’s -3. Birdie meanwhile for Oosthuizen, who drove the green and took a couple of wise putts. Much more sensible. He’s -2.
9.20am BST
A shame for Van Rooyen, who sets his six-foot eagle putt off to the left, and it’s never turning back. A misread. But it’s his third birdie today. Such a shame, though, because the long iron in was so sweet. Still, he’s just one off the lead now ... a lead shared by Hatton, who makes his birdie at 6 without fuss or drama. And it’s all happening at the top, because Fleetwood gets up and down from the side of the risk-reward short par-four 5th (it’s driveable, but there’s OB just over the back) and makes birdie. Look at how this is hotting up, and it’s only just gone 9am on the Friday!
-5: Hatton (6), Holmes
-4: Van Rooyen (7), Fleetwood (5), Lowry
-3: Koepka (4), Westwood, Finau, Rahm, Noren, Simpson, Garcia, Frittelli, MacIntyre, Aphibarnrat
9.14am BST
There could be some more movement atop the leaderboard soon. Hatton has just caressed a gorgeous iron at the par-three 6th to six feet. Meanwhile up on the par-five 7th, Van Rooyen nearly pipes an iron into the cup from the fairway for an albatross! The ball bounds a few feet past the hole, so eagle’s not a gimme. But he should be making birdie at the very least from there. For the record, it would have been the first albatross at the Open since Paul Lawrie lashed one in from distance at the 7th hole at Turnberry in 2009.
9.08am BST
Koepka goes backwards for only the second time this week. He’s very fortunate with his tee shot on 4, the ball sticking on the shoulder of a bunker and refusing to topple back in. However he comes up short with his second and, shortsided, does well to chip to 15 feet. But he can’t make the putt. He’s back to -3, his place at -4 taken by Tyrrell Hatton, who birdies 5 to move within a shot.
-5: Holmes
-4: Hatton (5), Lowry
-3: Van Rooyen (6), Fleetwood (4), Koepka (4), Westwood, Finau, Rahm, Noren, Simpson, Garcia, Frittelli, MacIntyre, Aphibarnrat
-2: Fox (6), Rose, Park, Turner, Langasque
8.56am BST
A second bogey of the day for Justin Thomas, who misses a short one on 4. He throws his putter away in frustration. He’s +2. Much more of this, and he’ll have to start fretting about the cut. A long way to go, of course, but early guesswork, nothing more, suggests it might fall around +3 or +4. Meanwhile Ryan Fox arrests his early morning slide with birdie at 5. He’s -2.
8.51am BST
Koepka sends his tee shot at 3 into the swale to the left of the green. No matter: he just gracefully scoops his wedge to a couple of feet, and tidies up for par. For a player with a boom-boom reputation, he’s got such a delicate touch around the greens. He’s the complete player. Meanwhile a second birdie of the day for the increasingly impressive Erik van Rooyen; the 29-year-old South African has been hanging around the leaderboards at the majors for much of the last year. A breakthrough could be a-coming, because he moves to -3, sinking a 15-foot putt at 5 after leaving an eagle attempt egregiously short. Two men with ice in the veins.
8.44am BST
While Koepka was making his birdie at 2, Sharma was doing the same, repairing the damage of the opening hole. He’s back to -1. Oosthuizen was busy making a disappointing three-putt par. He stays at -1. A fast start meanwhile for Thomas Pieters, who birdies 2 and 4 to move to -1. The big Belgian has top-ten finishes at the Masters and the PGA under his belt, but he’s done little at the Open. Time to make good, perhaps.
8.40am BST
An Byeong-hun hasn’t really done anything in the majors to date. But the 27-year-old from Seoul finished the recent US Open tied for 16th, his best effort yet. And he could be in the mood to trump that this week. He’s followed up his early birdie at 2 with others at 4 and 7. He’s whistled 52 places up the leaderboard to -1. Meanwhile on 2, Koepka nearly drains his eagle putt, but taps in for birdie. The first positive move at the toppermost of the poppermost:
-5: Holmes
-4: Koepka (2), Lowry
-3: Hatton (4), Fleetwood (3), Westwood, Finau, Rahm, Noren, Simpson, Garcia, Frittelli, MacIntyre, Aphibarnrat
-2: Van Rooyen (4), Rose, Park, Turner, Langasque
8.33am BST
Bounce-back birdie for Tommy Fleetwood at 2. All down to a lovely second into the meat of the green. His eagle putt wasn’t too far away. Coming behind, Brooks Koepka sends his second at the par-five pin high. He’ll have a relatively straight look at eagle from 25 feet or so.
8.22am BST
Golf is such a wonderfully weird game. Ryan Fox couldn’t stop making birdies yesterday afternoon; now, not much more than 14 hours later, the new record holder for the low back nine at the Open can’t stop making bogeys He follows up his mistake at 1 with a short yip at 3, and he’s down to -1 already.
8.20am BST
Another par for Hatton at 2. Greenside in two, his chip on doesn’t spin back to set up a makeable birdie putt. Still, he remains at -3. Back on 1, Koepka powers his second from the thick stuff into the heart of the green, then lips out from 25 feet. So close to a sensational turnaround in fortune after that poor tee shot. But he’ll have taken his par. Oosthuizen pars as well. But it’s a first bogey of the week for Shubhankar Sharma, who makes up this group, the result of a wayward tee shot. He was only half a turn away from salvaging his par, too. A breakthrough statement can’t be long in coming for the 22-year-old from India. A high finish this week could be it.
8.10am BST
Fleetwood’s first putt, from the fringe to the side of 1, is woefully underhit. He leaves himself a 30-foot hope for par, and the putt’s never going in. He slips back to -2. And his partner Thomas can’t get up and down from the sand, so he’s going the wrong way as well; he’s +1. But up on 2, Erik van Rooyen rattles one in from distance, and the early birdie takes up up to -2. The 29-year-old South African is beginning to make his name in the majors, after good showings in last year’s Open, and this year’s US Open and PGA. Someone to keep an eye on this week.
8.06am BST
Here comes the world number one, Brooks Koepka! The gallery gives him the ovation he deserves. But his opening tee shot isn’t up to standard. Like Fleetwood before him, he toys with the OB stakes down the left, and is pleased to see his ball nestle in the thick rough and refuse point blank to bounce towards serious scorecard-related bother. Louis Oosthuizen, the 2010 champion, is a bit braver than most: instead of playing it safe with iron, he takes a fairway wood. And claps it down the middle.
8.01am BST
There are only three players under 30 with a major to their name. Justin Thomas is one. (Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka are the others.) The 2017 PGA champ has a reasonable lie down the right of 1. But he undercooks his second, the ball stopping short of the green and turning off into a bunker to the left. A tricky up and down to come. Tommy Fleetwood makes a much better fist of his second from the left, powering his ball pin high, just off the side of the green to the right. He’ll have taken that for sure when he was anxiously watching his tee shot sail towards the out-of-bounds markers. Now all he needs to do is get up and down. No biggie.
7.57am BST
A huge reception for Tommy Fleetwood as he tees it up. But the crowd fall quiet as his ball whistles towards the OB down the left. Fortunately it snags in the thick rough just before the white posts. Lucky Tommy. Justin Thomas, who salvaged his round yesterday after a slow start, ending up with a level-par 71, finds the cabbage down the right. Up on the green, Tyrrell Hatton leaves his birdie effort well short, but salvages the situation with a hard-as-nails par saver from 12 feet. That’ll give him heart. A dropped shot on 1 after bogey at 18 yesterday might have sent a notoriously emotional player off into a tailspin. But he looks pretty happy with that.
7.50am BST
All hot streaks must come to an end. Ryan Fox birdied six of his last seven holes last night, but he’s bogeyed his first today. On in regulation, he trundled a hot birdie effort miles past the cup, and couldn’t save himself coming back. He slips to -2, then sends his drive at the par-five 2nd into sand on the left, so his chances of bouncing back with a birdie on one of Portrush’s more forgiving holes are immediately diminished.
7.47am BST
Tyrrell Hatton would be one off the lead were it not for a closing-hole bogey yesterday evening. Heart on sleeve as ever, he looked thoroughly deflated after finishing with his only dropped shot of the day. But you can’t knock an opening round of 68 at the Open. A good round this morning, when the weather’s kind, and he’ll be set fair for the weekend. England hasn’t had an Open champion since Nick Faldo won at Muirfield in 1992. Pre-Faldo, the English are looking at Tony Jacklin in 1969. Before that, it’s Max Faulkner, the 1951 winner at ... Royal Portrush. Some sort of sign? OK, it’s a stretch. But it’s got to happen sometime. He knocks his tee shot down the middle, then sends his second pin high, albeit just off the putting surface to the right.
7.35am BST
Ryan Fox hasn’t got much of a track record in the majors. The 32-year-old from Auckland’s best showing in one of the big ones is a tie for 27th in last year’s PGA at Bellerive. But he’s now got a record in the majors: yesterday afternoon he birdied 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18, a blitz that saw him come back in 29 strokes, a new Open best. The previous record of 30 was set by Eric Brown at Lytham in 1958, and was since matched by Tommy Nakajima (1986 Troon), Ross Drummond (Muirfield 1987), Mark Brooks (Turnberry 1994), Phil Mickelson (St Andrews 2000), Stuart Appelby (Muirfield 2002), Kenichi Kuboya (Turnberry 2009), Rory McIlroy (St Andrews 2010) and Justin Rose (last year at Carnoustie). But you can strike through all of that now. Fox receives a warm ovation as he tees it up this morning, then cracks his iron down the track. He’s -3, the first of the leading pack out today.
7.26am BST
The first birdies of the second round, and they both go to South Koreans. An Byeong-hun, coming off the back of a decent showing at Pebble Beach in the US Open, moves to +1 after picking up a shot at 2. Meanwhile Innchoon Hwang, playing in the Open for the first time at 44, birdies the opening hole, reward for a delightful second arrowed straight at the flag. He’s level par now.
7.21am BST
Rory’s not long for this championship either. Here’s Andy Bull’s take on his head-spinning horror show yesterday.
Related: Rory McIlroy’s talk of resilience cannot disguise horrible Open choke | Andy Bull
7.10am BST
You’ll need some reading matter to go with that breakfast cuppa. Here’s Tiger on his sore back. Get him while you can, because he won’t be here this weekend.
Related: Tiger Woods struggles with old enemies of weather and bad back | Sean Ingle
7.00am BST
It’s sunny and relatively still this morning at Portrush. But don’t expect it to stay that way forever. It’ll begin to cloud over soon enough. The morning is expected to stay dry, the odd squall excepted, but the chances of showers increase in the afternoon. We should avoid heavy rain, but don’t bet the farm on it, this is links golf, this is the Open Championship. The wind should be gentle all day, though the aforementioned don’t-risk-the-mortgage caveat remains.
6.54am BST
Lehman’s errant drive leads to a bogey. Not the ideal start to the champ’s valedictory round. He slips to +8. Niemann’s salvage bid looks doomed as he too drops a shot; he’s +6. Jimenez is the only one of the three to make par, but he remains at +11. It’ll be a wee while before things hot up this morning. Plenty of time to make yourself a cup of coffee.
6.43am BST
The 1996 Champion Golfer gets the second day’s play underway. Tom Lehman, at 60 exempt for the final time, is most likely playing his last round at the Open today, having shot 78 yesterday. He sends his opening tee shot into a fairway bunker to the right. He’ll be going round with the current Senior Open champion Miguel Angel Jimenez, who ran up an 82 yesterday and is just biding time until he defends his title next week. The 20-year-old Chilean prospect Joaquin Niemann makes up the three-ball. He’s got plenty of work to do today if he’s to extend his Open debut into the weekend, having shot 76 yesterday.
9.10pm BST
Yesterday, JB Holmes shot 66, Tiger carded 78, Rory McIlroy took 79, Ryan Fox came back in 29, Emiliano Grillo aced 13, and David Duval ran up 14 on 7. If today has half as many jaw-dropping moments, we’ll be doing pretty well. Here’s how the top of the leaderboard looks after the first round ...
-5: Holmes
-4: Lowry
-3: Noren, Simpson, Garcia, Frittelli, MacIntyre, Aphibarnrat, Fox, Hatton, Fleetwood, Koepka, Westwood, Finau, Rahm
-2: Langasque, Rose, Park
, Turner
Scott Murray's Blog
- Scott Murray's profile
- 3 followers
