Shane Lowry went into the lead of the 152nd British Open at seven under par following his second round at Royal Troon on Friday, while Tiger Woods slumped to 14 over and missed the cut. Woods isn’t the only big name to suffer in the blustery conditions on Scotland’s west coast; Rory McIlroy will start his second round at seven over par and will most likely require an under-par round to reach the cut. Lowry was overtaken at the top of the leaderboard late on Thursday by unheralded Englishman Daniel Brown, who shot a six-under 65.
The Irishman, who won his only major at the British Open in 2019, rallied from a dramatic double bogey on the 11th to shoot a two-under-par round of 69. Lowry leads by two strokes over Brown, who fired a solid 72 in his maiden major and is five under par. “It wasn’t a disaster,” Lowry recalled of his struggles at 11. “To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here.” Lowry was on fire as he reached the turn in 34, courtesy of birdies on the first, fifth, and eighth.
The world number 33, meanwhile, was rattled when he drifted left into dense bushes following a poor tee shot at the 11th. Surprisingly, Lowry’s ball was located but declared unplayable, forcing him to play a drop and forfeit two shots.
He recovered admirably, picking up two shots in the last three holes. Scottie Scheffler, the world number one, has Lowry in his sights, as the American climbed into a tie for fourth at two under after missing a shot at 18. Scheffler has won six times this year, including a second Masters victory in April.
A massive putt at the 14th and a birdie on the par-five 16th brought the American within striking distance of Lowry, but a costly bogey on the final hole left him five behind.
– Woods’ worst Open performance –
Woods’ campaign ended in a disappointing two rounds, raising questions about whether he should continue to put a wounded body through the pressure of trying to add to his 15 major championships. The 48-year-old responded to former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie’s request earlier this week that he resign to maintain his standing as one of the sport’s all-time greats.
Woods has stated that he is doing physically better lately as he continues to recover from severe leg injuries sustained in a vehicle accident in 2021.
“I just need to keep progressing like that and then eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into kind of the competitive flow again,” he told me. But the three-time British Open winner looked a sad picture as he walked over the Troon courses, his two-round score placing him 149th out of 154 players still competing in the competition. His two-round score of 156 matches his lowest ever at a major, the 2015 US Open, and is three strokes lower at the British Open.
Strong gusts made low scoring difficult, with the sixth hole, the longest in British Open history on Thursday at 623 yards, being lowered by 20 yards owing to the circumstances.
The focus eventually shifts to McIlroy’s attempt to recover from a catastrophic opening round of 78, with the projected cut at four over.
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Scottish Open winner Bob MacIntyre’s hopes of winning his first major on home soil were dashed when he squandered eight strokes in his opening four holes, dropping to nine over.