British Open: Lowry leads, Scheffler in the hunt
TROON (Scotland), July 19
Ireland’s Shane Lowry led the Open from English qualifier Dan Brown after a masterful second round at Royal Troon and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and England’s Justin Rose were moving ominously into contention.
Links lover Lowry, the 2019 champion, rolled in a superb 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to complete a 2-under 69 to reach 7-under, two shots clear of overnight leader Dan Brown who again impressed with a 1-over 72.
Former US Open champion Rose, who had to qualify this year, put together a magnificent 3-under 68 in the toughest afternoon conditions to join Brown on 5-under.
The 43-year-old went bogey-free for 29 holes and finished by sinking a superb 40ft birdie putt on the 18th green to raise hopes of a first English winner at the Open since Nick Faldo in 1992.
American Scheffler was warming to the task of lifting the Claret Jug for the first time although a bogey at the 18th rather jolted his serene progress on the Ayrshire coast.
Conditions were calmer for the early starters although winds increased considerably throughout the day to stifle upward movement on the leaderboard and leave the hopes of several favourites in tatters.
There was to be no miraculous recovery for Tiger Woods as the American great bowed out with a disappointing round of 77 after carding 79 on Thursday.
The 48-year-old American recorded six bogeys and two double-bogeys on Thursday and struggled again with just a single birdie despite plenty of support from the packed galleries.
“It wasn’t very good,” Woods said. “I was fighting it all day and was never close enough to make birdies.”
With the cut projected at 6-over, the likes of former champions Francesco Molinari, Zach Johnson, Henrik Stenson and Louis Oosthuizen all looked certain to miss the weekend.
Shubhankar hangs by thread
Indian golfer Shubhankar Sharma brought to the fore his fighting abilities and was hanging by a thread following birdies on the 15th and 16th holes in the second round. He finished with a round of 1-over 72 and was 6-over for two rounds.
Sharma, who turns 28 on Sunday, the final day of this edition of the Open, had two bogeys on the seventh and ninth, which pushed him to 7-over for the tournament and the cut looked likely at either 5-over or 6-over. A birdie on the 12th was followed by a bogey on the 14th but then he showed his wares.
He birdied from 20 feet on the 15th and added another on the par-5 16th to get to 5-over. However, he gave back a shot on the 17th.
