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TROON, Scotland – Having finished his final TV interview obligation, Shane Lowry sought out his father, Brendan, wearing a Kelly green Srixon ski cap, and gave him a bear hug. The two men smiled wide in delight at a day in which the Irishman shot 2-under 69 at Royal Troon’s Old Course and handled howling winds with aplomb.
“I’m pretty happy with the day,” Lowry said when he met with the media after a finishing birdie at the 2024 British Open to open a two-stroke lead over Englishmen Justin Rose and Dan Brown. “To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here, it’s why we’re here.”
For the first time since 1951, the top three at the halfway point of the Open are all from the United Kingdom and Ireland. Lowry, 37, opened a major with two rounds in the 60s for the fourth time in his 46th career start in a major and second time this year (69-69 at PGA Championship).
World No. 2 Rory McIlroy missed the cut on Friday but he said he’ll be watching and rooting for his pal Lowry this weekend.
“He’s so creative. I think even just watching the coverage the last couple of days, that little sort of squeezy cut that he can hit, especially going out in that front nine, is going to be really helpful to him,” McIlroy said. “Yeah, look, he relishes these conditions. He loves playing these conditions. The Open Championship is his favorite tournament in the world. He gets more up for this than anything else.”
Indeed, he does. Lowry, who won the Claret Jug in 2019 in challenging conditions at Portrush, has the added confidence in knowing he can do it.
“You know, it’s quite difficult to stand up there from 190 yards and make yourself hit a 4-iron as low as you can,” he said. “It’s quite difficult to tell yourself that.”
During his press conference, Lowry was asked if he’s a good front-runner.
“I wouldn’t say I’m a good runner,” he said drawing laughter. “I don’t know. I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I’ve managed to knock them off. So I’ve done it a few times. I don’t know. It’s hard to win tournaments. We’ll see. I’ll tell you Sunday evening.”
Three of the last four 36-hole leaders/co-leaders at British Open have gone on to win: Brian Harman last year, Cameron Smith in 2022 and wait for it — Lowry in 2019.
Here are five more things to know.
Dan Brown putts on the eighth green during his second round, on day two of the 152nd British Open at Royal Troon. (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Dan Brown the golfer knows all about Dan Brown, the author, though he said he’s never read any of the famous novelist’s books or seen their movie version.
“Hopefully, I can start making a bit of a name for myself, and people will say that to him, are you the golfer?”
The English golfer is making quite a name for himself this week, shooting 1-over 72 at Royal Troon and sits tied for second and one stroke back of the lead in his major championship debut.
“I’m proud of what I’ve done, and hopefully I can continue and sort of still be lingering around on Sunday,” he said.
Brown earned his way into the field at Final Qualifying, sinking a 20-foot birdie putt at the last hole to make it. He followed up his 65 on Thursday with a solid performance in trying conditions. He made two bogeys on his front nine before he canned a 20-foot birdie at No. 10 and tacked on a birdie at 16 that helped to earn him a place in the final group on Saturday.
Many golfers are just learning about the DP World Tour pro, who has one career victory and had struggled of late to make a cut. On Friday, he was asked Daniel or Dan?
“Dan,” he said. “Daniel is usually when I’m getting told off by my mom and dad.”
Ted Scott, caddie for Scottie Scheffler, takes a break after the round during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon. (Warren Little/Getty Images)
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is just going about his business this week. He’s fired a pair of 70s to sit T-4 and lurking just five back as he seeks his seventh win of the season.
One thing to watch is Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott. Scheffler said his veteran caddie was suffering from food poisoning or a stomach bug.
“He seemed to feel better as the day went on. The doc here took good care of him. But he did not sleep very much last night apparently,” Scheffler said. “We didn’t know if he was going to be able to go this morning, but he fought it out. You saw him laying down probably quite a bit out there, which was pretty funny. But it’s just one of those deals, you’re used to him being in one position, standing there by the bag, and then all of a sudden on No. 9 today he was literally sitting on the 10th tee for like 10 minutes while we were putting out over there. I didn’t even see him, which was a bit unusual.
“He’s a fighter. He did a good job today and battled through it.”
So did Scheffler on a day when several big names got blown away by the windy conditions. It marks the third time in four career appearances at the Open where he will be positioned inside the top 10 after 36 holes.
“I’ve played two solid rounds and it put me five shots back, and I’ll continue to try to execute and just continue to try to hit good shots and hit good putts out there,” he said.
Scheffler is attempting to become the first player to win multiple majors in a year since Brooks Koepka won the U.S. Open and PGA Championship in 2018.
“He’s like a racehorse,” Golf Channel’s Paul McGinley said. “He just paces himself. They’re never too far off the lead, they get birdies when they can and minimize the mistakes.”
Justin Rose celebrates after making a birdie putt on the 18th green during the second round of the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. (Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports)
Justin Rose capped off his 3-under 68 in dramatic fashion with a 42-foot birdie putt.
“That was such a fun way to finish. Obviously I celebrated, and there was the realization I didn’t have to hit another shot, could really kind of let my guard down and enjoy the day because it was a really hardworking, good round of golf,” said Rose, who improved to 5-under 137 and tied for second.
The 43-year-old Englishman has been chasing the Claret Jug since he was a 17-year-old amateur and finished T-4 in 1998. He knows that an Englishman hasn’t won the championship since Nick Faldo in 1992 but he’s focused on the task at hand and knows the conditions aren’t likely to get any easier.
“I think today it tipped over the edge where the elements were in control, meaning that you were aiming right of a pin and slicing the ball and seeing the ball hook. So the wind had all the control on the ball. The player couldn’t have control over the wind. I think that’s the tipping point today,” he said. “Yesterday I felt like it was playable. I felt like it was a fair fight yesterday. Today just kind of was a bit more survival.”
And Saturday’s moving day?
“It’s going to change tomorrow, again, what the questions are,” Rose said. “I think tomorrow might be calmer, a bit more rain. So yeah, you’re going to have to kind of adapt. I think what I’ve done a good job of this week is kind of imagining how this course was going to play with the southerly wind and sort of setting up my expectations and mentality of how to play the course.”
Billy Horschel on the 11th green during the second round of the 2024 Open Championship at Royal Troon. (Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports)
Billy Horschel was proud of shooting 68 on Friday. After all, he had experienced carnage at Royal Troon before and this time he came out on top. He joined Scheffler and Dean Burmester at 2-under 140.
“Here in ’16, I shot 4-under the first round, and then I proceeded to shoot 85, but if everyone remembers, the weather was pretty nasty. I got to No. 9, and the weather to that point was the most nastiest weather I’ve ever played in — blowing 30, raining sideways. It was a brute that day,” Horschel recalled. “ I remember I turned my hat backwards about the 14th hole because it was raining so hard. Then I got blasted on social media for having my hat backwards at The Open Championship. If I remember correctly, I think I’ve seen Tiger do it plenty of times.”
Horschel’s record at the Open Championship is pedestrian at best but he termed it “a little deceiving.”
“I played (the Alfred) Dunhill the last few years and felt better on links golf courses, and my record has been better on links golf courses, which when I come to The Open, I feel more comfortable that I have a record of quality play somewhere in links courses,” he said. “Like I said, the record can be a little deceiving.”
That round of 85 was eight years ago, Horschel said, and he’s done his best to forget that day of carnage playing alongside Matt Fitzpatrick. “We were just sort of laughing on 17 tee about what was happening,” Horschel recalled. “Listen, it happens. You play in bad weather. You sort of throw it away. It is what it is, and you move on.”
The 18th green grandstand and scoreboard during day two of The 152nd Open championship at Royal Troon. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Lowry, Rose and Scottie Scheffler aren’t the only major champions on the leaderboard heading into the weekend.
Jason Day and Xander Schauffele (1 under) are T-7. Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Collin Morikawa, the 2021 Open champ, and Jon Rahm all are 1 over (T-13). Those names, plus the likes of Patrick Cantlay (1 under, T-7), who is seeking a first major, should make for an exciting Moving Day.
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