Open leader Scottie Scheffler starts with birdie to dampen hopes of chasing pack
But he was, unsurprisingly, unfazed and despite finding the rough off the tee he struck a brilliant approach to inside a foot and immediately was seven ahead of the Northern Irishman.
Playing partner Haotong Lee also birdied so his overall lead remained four.
A statement start from Scottie. pic.twitter.com/eQ34Bc7lss
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 20, 2025
McIlroy birdied the second to reduce the gap to the leader back to six but there were no signs of the early fireworks of the previous day when he was three under through four on his way to a 66.
The Masters champion knew he would have to realistically better that if he were to stand a chance of winning his second Claret Jug but struggled for momentum and bundling a chip out of the rough way past the pin resulted in a dropped shot at the fourth he could ill afford.
Also back at eight under was playing partner Matt Fitzpatrick, who began the day one shot better off only to bogey the par-three third.
Bryson DeChambeau was also on that number through 16 holes after a six-birdie charge, while former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama carded seven birdies and one bogey in the group behind.
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Belfast Telegraph
6 hours ago
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13 hours ago
- Metro
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I would have liked to have done more, but I'm not finished yet. 'I still love competing. Going up to Sheffield for the World Championship qualifiers especially. It's more of a challenge more than anything now. I enjoy playing the better players, youngsters coming through to show that I can still play. And that's when I think I do actually perform better.' It won't be youngsters he takes on at Vaillant Live in Derby on 26-28 December, but there will be a chance to become the British Seniors Open champion, live on Channel 5. MORE: 2025 Shanghai Masters Snooker schedule, how to watch, prize money and odds MORE: Championship League Snooker: 10 things we learned from a month at the Mattioli MORE: Resurgent Stephen Maguire tinkers his way to first title in five years
