A Review of Round 2 at The Open by REDi Sport
There were low scores aplenty on the second day of The Open. Warm sunshine and less wind allowed for improved scoring conditions and it was another day where past champion Louis Oosthuizen shone. Shooting a round of 65, his 36 hole total of 129 is the lowest in the history of The Open. Oosthuizen will not be getting ahead of himself 11 years on from his last Major success. However, he has put himself into prime position for the weekend.
Only three golfers bettered Oosthuizen’s score in Round 2. One of them was Collin Morikawa who set the early clubhouse lead of nine under par with his round of 64. At one point he threatened to challenge The Open record of 63, however a bogey on the 15th hole halted his run. He eventually finished with three straight pars and in solo 2nd place.
Pre-tournament favourite John Rahm also shot 64 to play himself back into contention. He now sits on five under par overall in a tie for 12th place. Late on in Round 2, a few other big names crept up the leaderboard. Namely, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. Both are now lurking ominously behind the leaders on seven under and five under par respectively.
Argentinian Emiliano Grillo was the third player to shoot a score of 64. A back nine holes of 30, including six birdies, helped to lift him into a tie for 7th place.
It was another good day for Jordan Spieth as he will go into the weekend in 3rd place. His iron play was especially solid during his round of 67. He struggled a little during his final six holes, but will be pleased with his position going into Round 3 of a Major Championship.
Andy Sullivan is the leading Englishman after his second consecutive round of 67. Paul Casey is one shot behind him, with Danny Willet a further shot back. A special shoutout to Jonathan Thomson who has a hole-in-one on the Par 3 16th hole.
Three Sheffield golfers make the weekend
As a proudly Sheffield-based sports apparel company, we at REDi Sport are closely following the story of all the Sheffield golfers at Royal The Open. Three of them have successfully qualified for the weekend.
Danny Willet had a topsy-turvy day including 4 birdies and 3 bogeys for a score of 69. He will go into the weekend knowing a low round on Saturday would put him in a good position for the final round.
Lee Westwood got off to a rocky start with two bogeys in his first five holes. He turned it around though to shoot a round of 67 and will be pleased with a closing birdie on the final hole. Nine shots off the lead, Westwood will be hoping to get off to a quick start tomorrow.
Sheffield United fan Matt Fitzpatrick is the final one to qualify for two more days of golf at Royal St. George’s. Despite being pretty steady, he struggled to build any momentum and heads into Saturday on level par.
Despite struggling, Sam Bairstow and Nick Poppleton will have massively enjoyed playing at the The Open for the first time. They will both be hoping to use this experience to kick on in their respective careers and hopefully it won’t be the last time we see them in The Open.
A good day for Matthias Schmid
Another tough day for the majority of the amateurs in The Open.
With the one exception of German Matthias Schmid. He shot a remarkable bogey-free five under par score of 65. Schmid qualifies for the weekend on a combined total of one under par.
Yuxin Lin is the only amateur to make it through to the weekend. He finished on a combined total of one over par to scrape through right on the cut line.