Live The Open 2025, second round: Fitzpatrick leads and McIlroy in contention
8:21AM
Players must be hit where it hurts to cure scourge of slow play
Officials judged JJ Spaun to have recorded a 'bad time' here at the 153rd Open Championship and the US Open champion's playing partners, Jon Rahm and Xander Schauffele, were not best pleased.
Goodness knows how they identified Spaun alone. Rounds were taking beyond six hours by the end of the opening day – everybody was slow and they surely could not blame one player. Indeed, picking out Spaun in this trail of the slugs was akin to singling out an Irishman here for having the odd pint.
In fairness, however, Spaun is not quick and clearly was not quick and in this respect, it is gratifying to witness the referees actually enforcing the rules, even if it was in an isolated case. Now let us see if they follow this through.
Should Spaun record another 'bad time' in the second round, he will receive a penalty shot and an example would thus be made. If you pardon the pun, it would be long overdue.
8:09AM
Not the best start for two Masters champions
Sergio Garcia is one over for the day so far after three holes (and just narrowly missed a birdie putt) and Adam Scott is two over for the day, with a putt to save par on the fourth. They are even and three over for the tournament respectively.
8:03AM
The first hole was the most difficult yesterday
Not hard to see why, really. Will that continue today?
7:58AM
Who is doing well so far today?
American amateur Ethan Fang, for one. He is at two under for the day (two over for the tournament) after three after back-to-back birdies.
Back-to-back birdies for Amateur Champion Ethan Fang. pic.twitter.com/oY650D8ZN3
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 18, 2025
However, he has found a tricky fairway bunker on the fourth.
7:53AM
Tee times: Some early groups of interest
7:08 am Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a)
7:19 am Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia
7:52 am Si Woo Kim, Shugo Imahira, Sebastian Cave (a)
8:25 am Keegan Bradley, Sungjae Im, Daniel Berger
8:36 am Rasmus Hojgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Romain Langasque
8:47 am Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall
9:25 am Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann
9:36 am Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee
9:47 am Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose
9:58 am Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Aberg, Viktor Hovland
10:09 am Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
10:20 am Harris English, Nick Taylor, Tony Finau
7:41AM
Good morning
Welcome to our live coverage of day two of the 2025 Open Championship which comes from Royal Portrush. The first day yesterday was a tremendous day of any major championship, with nobody tearing the course up and plenty of big names in the reckoning at this early stage.
A good chunk of players were at even par or better after the opening round, with five players posting scores of four-under 67. They include Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Harris English, Jacob Skov Olesen, Li Haotong and Matt Fitzpatrick. There is plenty of home interest, too, with Tyrell Hatton, Matthew Jordan (-3), Aaron Rai, Lee Westwood, Justin Rose (-2) and Rory McIlroy (-1) towards the upper reaches of the leaderboard.
Clearly the biggest story this week (for all that of Shane Lowry returning to the scene of his greatest triumph...) is McIlroy. His round yesterday had its moments. At one point (hole 10) he reached three under par and within one shot of the leaders. Then came three bogeys in the next four holes before a birdie at 17 got him back to one under, where he finished.
It is a cliche that you cannot win the Open in the first round but you can lose it and, as much as he would have liked to have finished a couple of shots better, McIlroy has put himself in contention at this early stage. Mind you, he is not the only name who had a decent Thursday. World No 1 Scottie Scheffler managed to score a 68, though not without a few difficulties, 2023 champion Brian Harman is also at two under, with Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry at one under.
Really, at this stage, anyone who is not too far away from that score of four under is far from out of it. And that is the joy of major golf. Today is set up for another intriguing day of action in County Antrim, with a few early groups out already.
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Glos dig in against Lancs after Hartley's heroics
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Cheltenham (day three)Lancashire 557: Green 160, Hartley 130, Hurst 106; Akhter 4-85Gloucestershire 381 & 98-0: Charlesworth 61*, Bancroft 35*Glos (5pts) trail Lancs (6pts) by 78 runs with ten second-innings wickets remaining Match scorecard Tom Hartley produced another stellar performance to put the skids under Gloucestershire as Lancashire made the running on day three of the County Championship match at the College Ground, posted a career-best innings of 130 with the bat on day two, the England slow left armer returned notable figures of 6-116 - his best for Lancashire - to again steal the show. Replying to Lancashire's mammoth 557, the home side were dismissed for 381, conceding a first-innings deficit of Charlesworth staged an outstanding season's-best knock of 160 and Joe Phillips weighed in with 64 as Gloucestershire advanced confidently to 296-3. But Hartley then induced a collapse which saw the hosts lose their last seven wickets for 85 runs in 26 captain Jimmy Anderson enforced the follow-on and Gloucestershire made a better fist of things second time around, Cameron Bancroft and Ben Charlesworth safely negotiating 30 overs to stage an unbroken opening stand of 98. Gloucestershire still trail by 78 runs and Bancroft (35*) and Charlesworth (61*) will be called upon to muster further resistance on a pitch offering some assistance to spin when they return in the day had begun full of hope for Gloucestershire. Resuming on 179-1, Charlesworth and Phillips set a new county record partnership for the second wicket in matches against Lancashire, eclipsing the 160 registered by Bill Athey and Paul Romaines at Bristol in 1984. Phillips perished soon afterwards, superbly held at short square leg by Keaton Jennings off the bowling of Chris Green as Lancashire effected an early breakthrough and terminated a profitable alliance of 171 in 47.3 and Ollie Price applied themselves diligently to the task of cussed defiance and, in between performing the hard yards, these two took advantage of sufficient poor balls to post a half century stand from 104 to make something happen, Lancashire were indebted to Hartley, who persuaded Price to slice a cut shot to Luke Wells at backward point in the 72nd over. Price had contributed 31 to a stand of 58 for the third wicket, and Gloucestershire were 249-3, still 308 runs behind and with further graft required. Charlesworth was joined by Cheltenham-born Miles Hammond and these two advanced the score to 259-3 by the new ball available upon the resumption, Anderson returned at the Chapel End, only for Hammond to greet him with an off-driven four and another boundary behind square. Charlesworth then crunched the former England man through the covers off the back foot to bring up his 150 from 233 balls with his 20th Charlesworth's resistance ended soon afterwards, the 24-year-old left hander inexplicably advancing down the pitch to Hartley and being stumped by Phil Salt with the score 296-4. His dismissal sparked an alarming collapse in which the home side lost six wickets for the addition of 62 runs in 21.1 oversHammond had traded almost exclusively in boundaries, his brisk 36 including six fours and a six, when he miscued an attempted drive and offered a return catch to Hartley. On a roll by now, Hartley struck again in his next over, dismissing Graeme van Buuren lbw without scoring, before persuading James Bracey to pop a catch up to short square leg to complete a remarkable five-wicket seen their middle order blown away by Hartley, Gloucestershire's tail end fared no better against Lancashire's back-up spinners. Zaman Akhter fell lbw to Green and Ajeet Singh Dale succumbed in near-identical fashion to Wells' leg breaks. Hindered by a hamstring strain, Marchant de Lange emerged with Phillips as a runner and the big man suggested a possible escape route for Gloucestershire by smiting two huge sixes. But Hartley returned to have the South African held in the deep, leaving Todd Murphy high and dry on 22 not out, as the hosts fell 27 short of saving the follow and Charlesworth restored calm during a final session that, in stark contrast to what had gone before, failed to yield a single dismissal. Watchful in the face of a new-ball examination at the hands of Anderson, Gloucestershire's openers initially focused their efforts on occupying the crease and taking up time. But as Lancashire's bowlers began to tire, so the opening partnership up where he left off in the first innings, Charlesworth went to 50 from 64 balls with seven fours and a six, his antics causing the threat of further collapse to recede into the distance. His captain proved rock-solid, Bancroft chiselling an unbeaten 35 from 86 balls to serve notice that Gloucestershire remain in the fight. Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
