Key events
Bogeys for both Robert MacIntyre and Alex Fitzpatrick at the last. The former the result of a skied iron from the tee, the latter a drive yanked over some fences down the left. They sign for 69 and 67 respectively, and will start Moving Day at -4. A diminuendo end, but they’re both in the mix … as is Dan Brown, who rolls in his eagle putt to return to where he began the day at -4! Smokin’.
Tommy Fleetwood finds a fairway bunker from the tee at 8, and having been forced to take his medicine by splashing out carefully, there goes his first shot of the day. He’s back to -2. As is his playing partner Jon Rahm, but from the other direction, making birdie. Meanwhile Bryson’s tee shot at 9 ended up in a swale to the right of the green, not quite as bad as the dramatic camerawork suggested. A delicate little bump and run to tap-in distance, and he’ll be moving to -4 in a minute.
Daniel Brown has struggled to build on his 66 yesterday. He’s currently two over for his round coming up 17 … but from 227 yards, he creams a long iron straight at the flag, the ball landing on the front portion of the green and rolling up to eight feet. He’ll have a huge chance for an eagle that would take him back to where he started the day at -4. Meanwhile Bryson DeChambeau goes for the green at the drivable par-four 9th, where Rory McIlroy got so close earlier … and sends one way out right that doesn’t look like hooking back as per the plan. More when we have it.
A careless three-putt bogey for Im Sung-jae on 16. Meanwhile bogey for Francesco Molinari on 13 … and an immediate bounce back with birdie at 14. And so here’s the state of the new-look leaderboard …
-8: Herbert (F)
-6: Suber (F), Young (F)
-5: Burns (F), MacIntyre (17), A Fitzpatrick (17)
-4: Wallace (F), Cauley (F), Detry (F), Molinari (14), Perez (13), Smalley (11), Gerard (5)
A couple of outrageous shots on the par-five 17th. Bob MacIntyre, whose drive took a lucky kick off the bank to the left of the hole, sends his fairway wood away to the left, and surely into the big bunker. But it somehow skirts around it on the outside, the camber after the trap taking the ball back into the green. Then he rakes in the 40-footer that remains! Talk about taking advantage of your good fortune! That’s exactly what you have to do if you’re to win the Open. Meanwhile his playing partner Alex Fitzpatrick, up against the face of the bunker Bob Mac had somehow circumvented, opens the club and absolutely hammers his shot up and out; it lands a couple of feet from the hole, an amazing escape from a very unpromising lie, in a bunker 25 yards out. He taps in for birdie, and both players move to -5. What drama! The crowd give it plenty.
Jon Rahm tries he very best to salvage that par at 6. He powers out from the rough to the right of the fairway, from 70 yards to seven feet. But he doesn’t commit to the putt, which dribbles by apologetically. His second bogey of the day, and he slips to -1, much closer to the projected cutline than the lead. (The cut looks likely to be level par, maybe +1.)
So who is this unexpected presence sitting in a share of second on the current leaderboard? Andy Bull has your back.
Trouble for Jon Rahm on 6. His drive ends up in thick rough down the left, and unlike most of the trouble around Birkdale this week, the patch he’s found hasn’t been frazzled by the sun. It’s still lush and verdant. And so it grabs the hosel of his six iron, the ball squirting off to the right, across the fairway and into more rubbish. Serious work to be done if he’s to escape with a par.
Back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 for Victor Perez, who inserts himself into the story at -4. The 33-year-old Frenchman, now a LIV golfer, is in good nick after the tie for ninth at the Scottish Open last week that got him into this championship. Meanwhile on 6, Bryson DeChambeau very nearly bounces back with birdie, but his 15-foot putt slips by on the low side. And Thomas Detry, after that 100mph birdie on 15, pars his way in for a 69 that sits very nicely alongside yesterday’s 67.
-8: Herbert (F)
-6: Suber (F), Young (F)
-5: Burns (F)
-4: Wallace (F), Cauley (F), Detry (F), A Fitzpatrick (16), Im (14), Perez (12), Smalley (9), Gerard (4)
Im Sung-jae makes one of the pars of the week on the par-five 14. His drive stops just short of a fairway bunker on the left of the hole. He’s got a downhill lie, but reckons he’s got enough loft with his fairway wood to get over the tall face of the bunker and have a shy for the green. Reader, he does not have enough loft. His ball slaps into the face and plops back into the sand. Trouble now, because he’s forced to take his medicine and splash out. He’s left hitting four in from 210 yards … and knocks it to 20 feet before curling in his par putt. That is preposterous. Magnificent viewing, and Im remains at -4. If he wins this tournament, they’ll roll the film back to that hole more than once.
Bryson is wedging downhill, and downwind, from a tousled lie on the bank to the left of 5. He chops out as delicately as he can, and the ball doesn’t release, leaving a tricky 12-footer for an unlikely par. He nearly makes it, but the ball trickles off to the right as his knees buckle in theatrical angst. That would have been an absurd par, really, given not only the initial drive, but the trouble he’d found on the other side of the hole with his provisional, and the luck it took to find the first ball. Bogey is not a bad outcome. Meanwhile Scottie Scheffler screeches a chip from over a bunker on the left to a couple of feet, and that’s a birdie. Both of the USA’s stellar stars are now -3.
Bryson’s ball is under a mat of thickest rough. The average golfer would take one look and think NO WAY. The average professional golfer would think the same. But Bryson is a special one. He literally scythes through the reeds with his wedge, and powers his ball out, over rough, over water … and over the green, onto the grassy knoll on the other side. But that’s not the worst result all considered. On that evidence, Bryson may even be able to make a score around this place …
Meanwhile back on 4, the gallery goes wild as Tommy Fleetwood makes it two birdies in three holes. A 25-foot left-to-right slider that never looks like missing. The fast start he was so desperate for. He’s -3 now. His partner Jon Rahm can’t get up and down from a greenside bunker and slips back to -1.
Apologies to Bryson DeChambeau for the good notice of the previous entry. The golfing gods having been piqued, Bryson carves a wild drive miles right of the short par-four 5th. Over the water, and into the thick reeds. “I wouldn’t look for my kids in there,” Sky commentator Rich Beem observed earlier, when Viktor Hovland sent his tee shot in there. But look for it the spotters do, and it appears they’ve found it. That could be a huge break if so, because he’d hooked his provisional a ways left. Maybe the golfing gods aren’t quite so irritated after all.
Bryson DeChambeau sends a gentle draw into the heart of the par-three 4th and rolls in the 20-foot putt. He’s missed the cut in all three previous majors this season, but looks right back on his game this week. He might take some stopping. A birdie for Ryan Gerard on 2. And Bob MacIntyre has been quiet after dropping an early stroke at 3, but he’s just sent a 20-foot left-to-right slider into the cup at the par-five 14th, and he’s finally back where he started the day at -3. Some scoring opportunities still to come, so the chance to turn a bang-average day into a positive one remains.
-8: Herbert (F)
-6: Suber (F), Young (F)
-5: Burns (F)
-4: Wallace (F), Cauley (F), Detry (16), A Fitzpatrick (13), Im (12), Molinari (10), Smalley (7), DeChambeau (4), Gerard (2)
The 2018 champion Francesco Molinari fell off the radar a bit after his near miss at the Masters the following year. A lot of missed cuts in the majors. This is the 43-year-old Italian’s first appearance in any of them for a year, and he’s making the most of it. A 67 yesterday, and birdie at 3 earlier this afternoon. He finds trouble at 10, though, taking an unplayable in thick rough to the left of the green. He’s battling to limit the damage … but then chops out, his ball rolling 60 feet across the dancefloor and straight into the cup. A par that will feel like a birdie, perhaps even more. He remains at -4 overall and it’s good to see that infectious smile again. Think how happy Tommy Fleetwood will be for him, too.
Rory McIlroy, slightly deflated but putting on a brave face, talks to Sky Sports and kind of promises a devil-may-care firework display tomorrow. “A little better today … not as many mistakes … I played OK … I stalled a little on the back … overall a decent score … I look at the leaderboard and I’m a long way back … get off to a good start tomorrow and you never know … I’ve driven the ball really well … we’ll see what the wind does … when I can get it close to the green I’m going to try to do that.”
Im Sung-jae can’t get up and down from the side of 11, and the 28-year-old Korean slips back to -4. He’s joined there by Thomas Detry, who absolutely whistles home a 30-foot birdie attempt on the new par-three 15th. Had the cup not been in the way, that ball might have ended up near the site of the old par-three 14th. We’re only kind of joking; he certainly wasn’t going to die wondering.
A couple of popular birdies on 2. Jon Rahm walks one in from 30 feet, to great acclaim, though nothing like the cheer that erupts when Tommy Fleetwood, Southport’s finest, follows him in. It wasn’t quite as confident a roll, the hole requiring a couple of attempts to grasp the ball as it swivels around the edge, but it drops eventually and Fleetwood gives the air a little punch. So important to get a fast start after yesterday’s 69, which he admitted afterwards probably flattered his play a bit. They’re both -2.
Sam Burns – who chipped in from a bunker on 18 to set the seal on his 62 – gets to talk to Sky Sports about it. “My finish yesterday was extremely frustrating … I was not very happy when I came off the golf course … I played a really solid round and then to bogey the last three holes … so it felt good to finish the way I did today … it’s a pretty tough little bunker shot so I was fortunate to land it where I did … it trickled in … I had no idea [about the record] … I didn’t realise that was the case … I was just trying to put a solid round together.”
He also makes sure to call his wife Caroline a “superhero”. The pair were expecting their second child Tuesday just gone, and Burns wasn’t expecting to play, but baby came early, on July 3, so Caroline encouraged him to give it a whirl. So in effect, he’s playing with house money, and as such could be very dangerous this weekend!
While Matt Fitzpatrick heads for home, his younger brother Alex is keeping the family flame alive. Birdies at 3, 5 and now 12, the latest reward for a downhill right-to-left tickler from the fringe, and he’s -4. At this rate we might have to start referring to the 2022 US Open champion as Alex’s older brother. Pars meanwhile at 1 for the afternoon marquee trio of Scottie, Bryson and Tyrrell. Not sure whether that sounds more like a firm of solicitors or a manufacturer of traditional luxury knitwear.
Rory McIlroy pars the last for a 67. Not spectacular by his own standards, and he’s not brought his best stuff at any point so far this week, but that’s hauled him back into the story after yesterday’s 72. He’s -1. He’ll need one heck of a weekend, though. Birdie for Xander Schauffele, who makes sure of his weekend participation with a 69 to follow his opening 71. He’s level par. But the third member of the group and one of the pre-tournament favourites, Matt Fitzpatrick, bids farewell after his second 72 of the week. He departs on +4.
Cameron Young fires a dart at the flag on 18, then cleans up from four feet for a closing birdie. His second 67 of the week, and the Players champion lurks ominously at -6. He’ll surely break his major duck at some point, so why not now? His playing partner Ludvig Åberg’s birdie putt shaves the cup, but he signs for a 66 and is firmly in the mix at -3. But the third member of the group, Wyndham Clark, leaves it all too late. Despite birdies at 15 and 16 and eagle at 17, the two-time US Open champion ends with par and a round of 70, which put alongside yesterday’s 73 is no good for the weekend. At +3, he’ll be away home.
Penny for the thoughts of the world number one Scottie Scheffler. He starts the day at -2 after a really strange first round: four birdies in the first six holes, then the remainder populated by ten pars and a couple of bogeys. He’ll contend with more difficult conditions than the Herbert-Burns collective, the wind having switched and picked up a little, but he’ll still back himself to go low today. Which is why, maybe, he slams his driver back into the bag after sending his opening drive into the rough down the right. Bryson DeChambeau, coming off the back of a 67, follows him into the thick stuff. Tyrrell Hatton, 69 yesterday, splits the fairway. This group should provide fireworks, one way or another.
Shane Lowry, who is about to find out that Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns have joined him on the major-championship 62 roll of honour, birdies the last. He signs for a 68, and the 2019 champion is positioned nicely at -3. In the group behind, Cameron Young birdies 17 to move to -5, and the reigning Players champ looks set for a productive weekend.
-8: Herbert (F)
-6: Suber (F)
-5: Burns (F), Young (17), Im (8)
-4: Wallace (F), Cauley (F), Molinari (6), Smalley (3), Hisatsune (3)
Collin Morikawa’s finish was as miserable as Sam Burns’ was sensational. The last four holes: bogey, bogey, birdie, double bogey. Back in 39, and what looked a very promising round for the 2021 champion has turned into an average 70.
Sam Burns shoots 62 as well!
They come in pairs all right! Sam Burns has torn around the back nine, with birdies at 10, 11, 13, 16, 17 and 18 to come home in 30 strokes for a 62 of his own! Burns, who came within a whisker of winning the US Open last month, didn’t have much of a record at the Open coming into this week, his best performance a tie for 31st at Troon in 2024. He’s made his mark on the oldest championship now! He’s -5, just three off Lucas Herbert’s lead.
The record-equalling Lucas Herbert speaks to Sky Sports. “It was a lot of fun … those first 12 holes [when he was eight under for his round] … I dunno if I’ve played golf that well before … it was very very cool to experience that … experience the nerves coming down the stretch … everyone wanted [a new record of 61] to happen … I felt I kinda let everyone down on the last missing that putt … an incredible experience … something I’ll be able to remember for the rest of my life … feel like I’ve got a record at the Open … it’s really special.”
You’ve let nobody down, sir. It was a ride.
That round, though! Lucas Herbert becomes just the fifth player in the history of men’s major championships to shoot 62. Branden Grace broke through the 44-year-old barrier of 63 here at Birkdale in 2017, and that’s since been matched by Rickie Fowler (2023 US Open), Xander Schauffele (2023 US Open and 2024 PGA Championship) and Shane Lowry (2024 PGA Championship). Given that Fowler and Schauffele did it at the same US Open at LA Country Club, Schauffele and Lowry did it at the same PGA at Valhalla, and the year Grace did it at Birkdale, Li Haotong shot 63 one day later … well, these things have a habit of coming in pairs, is all it would seem. Who’s next?!
Thanks David. Did I miss anything important while I was away? No? Thank goodness for that.
Well, that was fun. Thanks Lucas Herbert. What a ride. Time now to hand you over to Scott Murray for his second round of the day. He’ll bring you hot news of Rory’s final few holes and much more.
Collin Morikawa has taken a couple of step backs after bogeys at 15 and 16 but there could be another twist. The 2021 champ has flushed two shots down 17 and has 13 feet for eagle. It stays left but a two-putt birdie gets him back to 4-under and into the top five again.
Meanwhile, there’s an Open going on out there. With Herbert chasing history, we’ve rather neglected the leaderboard. Let’s catch up now. Sam Burns making a move. Former Open winner Francesco Molinari also lurking.
-8: Herbert (F)
-6: Suber (F)
-5: Im (5), Brown (4)
-4: Wallace (F), Cauley (F), Burns (17), Young (15), F Molinari (4)
Lucas Herbert shoots 62 to match the lowest round in a men’s major
Here goes Lucas Herbert to make history. It’s a hair over five feet. He’s been knocking those in all day. But, no! The weight of history proves too much. The head moves a little, the ball stays left and it’s a closing bogey. No record of 61 on his own but he’s now the holder of the joint-lowest score in the history of men’s majors, a 62. He matches the mark set by Brandon Grace, Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele.
As he walks off after his monumental round, Herbert leads The Open by two strokes.
Beyond those sunglasses, Herbert is still smiling. Those who know him say he’s never one to back off when getting a score going. You can say that again. Out in 28, he just hasn’t taken his foot off the gas. Bud Cauley is first to go with his own putt from off the green and shows great touch to knock it to kick-in distance. Can Herbert follow suit? It’s a good effort but he faces a four-feet or so knee-knocker to make history.
Herbert gets a free drop from the fences and that’s a significant break. The Aussie has a path to the green and the grass is growing with him so he can to the back of the ball. It’s 173 yards to the pin. The tension builds as his playing partners hit first. Here goes… it comes out a little dead, stopping some 30 feet short of the green. Not a bad miss though. Nothing in his way. Up and down for a 61. Easy!
A quick update on Rory McIlroy. Four straight pars on the back nine have kept him at even par, nine back. Cameron Young is stalking the leaders and he birdies 14 to move to -5.
Here we go at 18. Herbert launches his drive and carves one way right this time. It’s flirting with the out of bounds but kicks back near some spectator fences. He could well get a decent drop from there. This is on! Off he sets down the fairway, sharing a joke with caddie Titus Salt.
Here goes Herbert with a 10-footer to get to -10 for the day. Arghhh! A misread. The ball sets off left and never turns back. A par 5. Okay, a par at the tough par-4 closer will give him the record.
Out on the course, Matt Cooper messages: “Herbert’s caddie is local. His mate’s out here. I’m next to Herbert’s partner, Erika, on 17. Apparently he’s been in town for a week and played next door Hillside a lot.”
Herbert’s attempt to make 18-hole history is clearly the story but let’s not forget he’s leading The Open by three. Well, it could soon be four! From his sandy lie way left of the green he plays it like a bunker shot and does a marvellous job. Add in a bit of down the hill trickle and his ball finishes 10 feet away. Let’s do the maths again. If he holes that and pars the last he’ll shoot 60. Gulp! Two putts and a par at the last for 61. Oh, go on then, birdie-birdie and it’s a 59!
A reminder of those lowest rounds in a men’s major.
62 Branden Grace (2017 Open Championship, Royal Birkdale)
62 Rickie Fowler (2023 US Open, Los Angeles Country Club)
62 Xander Schauffele (2023 US Open, Los Angeles Country Club)
Lucas Herbert, after hitting the longest drive of the day so far at 17, hoicks his second way, way left. Is the realisation kicking in? Spectators scatter but he’s had some luck as the ball seems to be resting on a sandy path. Birdie maybe doubtful now but, remember, a par-par finish still gives him the record of 61.
Herbert, in white trousers, maroon shirt/cap and sunglasses, stalks his birdie putt at 16. In it goes! Never in doubt! That’s 9-under for the round and par-par=61 and the record. But, of course, the 17th is a par 5. ‘What on earth’s going on out there?’, as one of his famous countrymen used to ask.
I’ll tell you what’s going on – he’s just smashed a brilliant drive down 17!
Lucas Herbert looks his approach up and down at 16. You know when a golfer does that, the little twitches will soon reveal a very satisfactory outcome. And that’s absolutely the case as the Aussie’s ball lands, grips and ends up seven feet away. We’re very much on 61 watch, folks!
Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open champion at Portrush, is going along nicely today. The Irishman birdied 1 and 9 while everything else through the first 13 holes has been a par. Lowry is tied 11th, five back. That’s a now a shot better than Robert MacIntyre, who has opened par-par-bogey to slip back to -2.
Up at 13, Rory has pumped a drive about 700 yards down the fairway.
The dream is still on for Lucas Herbert. His tee-shot at the lengthy par-3 15th wanders away off the green but he stays strong and holes his five-footer for par. Mission update: play the final three holes in -1 or better to shoot 61 – a record in a men’s major.
-8: Herbert (15)
-6: Suber (F)
-5: Coody (16), Morikawa (13)
-4: Wallace (F), Cauley (15), Reed (14), Young (12), Im (2), Brown (2)
Matt Fitzpatrick holes a big breaking birdie putt at 11 that topples in at the death. That’s the good news. The bad is that he’s still outside the cut line (+2, 97th). He was a popular pick this week due to his superb form in 2026 but go through Fitzpatrick’s Open record and it’s surprisingly poor. Fourth at Portrush last year was a good knock obviously but his best before that was only 20th. So that’s just one finish better than 19th in his 10 Opens.
A two-putt par for McIlroy at 11 keeps him at even par and tied 49th.
Lucas Herbert is eating a snack on 15, according to roving reporter Matt Cooper. Cornflakes? Has he copied me and smuggled his own in? Good to get energy levels boosted when trying to pull off similar feats:
a) Writing a Guardian live blog for four straight hours
b) Trying to shoot the lowest score in the history of the majors
Another Matt update: “There’s a fella in the gallery who got caught in the arm by a Bud Cauley shot. He’s gutted it wasn’t Herbert so he could say he got clobbered by the man shooting the best major round ever.”
