Scheffler's putter has arrived at Portrush

New York Times

18-07-2025

Follow live coverage of day two at Royal Portrush, with Rory McIlroy among the early starters at The Open Championship Getty Images
The second round of the 2025 Open Championship is well underway at Royal Portrush.
Rasmus Hojgaard and 2023 champion Brian Harman lead the tournament on -6. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (10:10 a.m. ET) is in the pack three shots back, with Rory McIlroy (-1) chasing.
Scottie Scheffler left The Renaissance Club last week perplexed by its putting surfaces. Scheffler missed 17 putts inside 10 feet for the week and ranked near the bottom of the field in strokes gained putting among those to make the cut.
Scheffler's ball-striking acumen is unimpeachable, but the question about whether or not he would contend for his first Claret Jug was tied primarily to whether his putting could improve on the slower links surfaces of Royal Portrush.
The world number one answered that question loudly Thursday. Scheffler gained more than two full strokes on the greens, his best putting performance in an Open round since 2022. He was 15-of-16 putting inside 10 feet and kept his scorecard clean of three putts.
The shakiest part of Scottie's game Thursday was driving accuracy. Scheffler hit just three fairways in his round, one more than his career low in any round as a professional.
That Scheffler scored as well as he did while hitting so few fairways is exceedingly rare: Scottie's round of 68 tied the lowest score in the Open the last 25 years by a player hitting three fairways or fewer.
The quintet at 4-under-par after Round 1 is a diverse collection, representing five different countries with world rankings spanning from 19th to 354th.
It is the first time in major championship history that five or more men, each playing under different flags, were tied for the lead following any round.
A bit about the eclectic mix: 26-year-old Dane Jacob Skov Olesen is playing in his first Open as a pro – he made the cut as an amateur last year at Royal Troon. Ranked in the top 15 on the DP World Tour this season in scoring, Olesen gained strokes through the bag in his opening round.
Haotong Li has a piece of the lead following a major round for the second time in his career. He led by two strokes after the second round of the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park.
Haotong shot a final round 63 at the 2017 Open to finish alone in third place and is making his first Open start since 2022 at St Andrews.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout shot 67, his lowest career round in a major championship.
The 31-year-old South African has represented the International team in the last two Presidents Cups and has never finished better than 12th in a major championship.
The newest member of golf's Grand Slam club is trying to do something else not seen since Tiger Woods.
If Rory McIlroy wins the Open Championship this weekend, he'd be the first to win The Masters and The Open in the same year since Woods in 2005.
OK, it's not quite his hometown, but superstar Rory McIlroy grew up in Holywood, Northern Ireland, a little less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of where he'll vie for an Open title this weekend.
It's as close to home as he'll every play a major, and he now does so as a Grand Slam champion after his dramatic Masters win back in April.
The Athletic 's Aaron Catterson-Reid , also a Holywood native, explores how the town just outside Belfast shaped one of the most prolific golfers in modern history.
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Rory McIlroy and Holywood: Inside the small Northern Irish town that helped shape him
Irishman Shane Lowry, who won the 2019 Open Championship at Portrush, and veteran English star Justin Rose both drew loud cheers during their rounds.
But there was no mistaking who got the most rousing ovations throughout the day, nor was it any surprise — Northern Ireland's own Rory McIlroy.
The newly crowned Grand Slam winner started his first round strong, making the turn at 3-under, but stumbled with bogeys on 11, 12 and 14 before clawing one back with a tough birdie on 17 to finish well in the hunt at 1-under-par.
It's a full six strokes better than the opening-round 76 he shot during the first round at Portrush six years ago, and an even more impressive score when considering McIlroy only hit two of the 18 fairways on his drives amid the wind and rain yesterday.
He acknowledged that when speaking to NBC after his round:
'At least I knew what to expect today. It wasn't the shock that it was in 2019. ... It was a shaky start, I missed a short one on No. 1 and bounced back well.
'Considering that I didn't drive the ball well, it's a solid start. If I can hit a few more fairways over the next few days, I'm right in there with a great chance.
'I'm trying to embrace this as much as I can. The ovations when you're walking up on the greens and you hit a good shot are absolutely amazing.
'Having the support of an entire country is a wonderful feeling, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down.'
Bryson DeChambeau has again put himself on a path to going home Friday night at the Open Championship with a first-round 78.
DeChambeau had zero birdies, three bogeys and two double bogeys yesterday at Royal Portrush, a miserable afternoon that is but all too familiar for one of the biggest golf stars in the world.
He's averaged a first-round 73.6 in seven previous Open appearances, missing the cut three times and only truly being in it once — at the 2022 Open at St. Andrews, where he finished T8.
What's the problem? He'll dance around it but it's really quite simple: DeChambeau's power is in him thinking of every possible angle and determining the best way for him to overpower the golf course.
Links courses pose so many questions to you that you cannot possibly find an answer to them all, and must withstand. It's a style of golf that's just not meant for him.
The 18th hole was emblematic of that — DeChambeau forced the issue from the fairway, attacking a pin position he was in place to attack.
He instead ends up in a roll-off area, takes three shots to get into the hole and cards another bogey when he'd have been better served taking his par medicine. Getty Images
Thursday was just the second round in Bryson DeChambeau's major championship career without a birdie. He lost more than four strokes to the field with his approach play in the round.
DeChambeau shot an opening-round 7-over 78, leaving a lot of work to do Friday to make the cut.
Just like they do before every major tournament, our staff of golf writers at The Athletic authored a Big Board of the top 30 golfers most likely to win the 2025 Open Championship at Portrush.
Scottie Scheffler, who enters today only one stroke back of the lead, is at the top of the board:
So if Scheffler's 2024 was the best non-Tiger season in three decades by true strokes gained, then his 2025 is already second-best. The standards for Scheffler are reaching comical levels.
Since his early-season 'struggles' following hand surgery, he hasn't finished worse than T8 in his last nine starts. And that includes three wins. Perhaps the final frontier for Scheffler is winning overseas, but here's a reminder that he played unbelievable golf in Royal Troon's evil conditions a year ago.
He was third in the field from tee to green, including long, beautiful, miraculous shots into brutal winds. He only finished T7 because he couldn't make a putt. This season? Scheffler is the sixth-best putter on tour.
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Open Championship 2025 Big Board: Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and other favorites, ranked
Matt Fitzpatrick has never finished better than T-20 at The Open. His 67 yesterday was the lowest opening-round score of his major championship career.
Fitzpatrick is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes after just one in his first 14 of 2025.
And here's a full look at the leaderboard entering today, with that aforementioned historic five-way tie at the top.
World no. 1 Scottie Scheffler and English star Tyrrell Hatton are among those just one back of the lead.
This is the second-highest number of players tied at the top of the leaderboard after a first round in the history of The Open.
Only The Open at Royal St. George's in 1938 had more co-leaders after the first round, with six.
The first day of the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush Golf Club featured rain, windy conditions and a lengthy opening round.
It produced a five-way tie for the lead atop the leaderboard at 4-under-par between Harris English, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Jacob Skov Olesen, Haotong Li and Christian Bezuidenhout.
Local boy Rory McIlroy weathered a tricky back nine and poor tee shots to finish 1-under 70, three shots off the lead despite only hitting two fairways. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is one off the lead and in a four-way tie for second after firing a 3-under 68, and he only hit three fairways.
Two-time major winner Jon Rahm, who entered this tournament among the favorites to hoist the Claret Jug, also in the hunt with a 1-under 70.
English had the best round among the afternoon wave of golfers, getting into a share of the lead. While the rain subsided, the wind started to pick up, leading to a long first round that was still going on after 9 p.m. local time.
To catch up on Day 1 of The Open as it happened, check out our day one live blog covering all the action here.
And here are when several notable trios will begin their second rounds at Royal Portrush in the late morning and afternoon local time. Again, co-leaders are noted in italics. 6:26 a.m. ET/11:26 a.m. BST: Padraig Harrington, Nicolai Højgaard, Tom McKibbin
7:09 a.m./12:09 p.m.: Jason Day, Taylor Pendrith, Jacob Skov Olesen
7:20 a.m./12:20 p.m.: Phil Mickelson, Daniel Van Tonder, Ryan Peake
7:41 a.m./12:41 p.m.: Jordan Smith, Haotong Li , Dustin Johnson
8:15 a.m./1:15 p.m.: Thomas Detry, Chris Gotterup, Lee Westwood
8:37 a.m./1:37 p.m.: Thorbjorn Olesen, Matthew Jordan, Filip Jakubcik (a)
9:26 a.m./2:26 p.m.: Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Matt Fitzpatrick
9:59 a.m./2:59 p.m.: Xander Schauffele, J.J. Spaun, Jon Rahm
10:10 a.m./3:10 p.m.: Shane Lowry, Collin Morikawa, Scottie Scheffler
11:16 a.m./4:16 p.m.: Sadom Kaewkanjana, Riki Kawamoto, Sampson Zheng
Here are when several notable trios will begin their second rounds at Royal Portrush in the early to mid morning local time. Co-leaders are noted in italics. 2:08 a.m. ET/7:08 a.m. BST: Adam Scott, Rickie Fowler, Ethan Fang (a)
2:19 a.m./7:19 a.m.: Laurie Canter, Elvis Smylie, Sergio Garcia
3:36 a.m./8:36 a.m.: Rasmus Højgaard, Christiaan Bezuidenhout , Romain Langasque
3:47 a.m./8:47 a.m.: Aaron Rai, Sahith Theegala, Harry Hall
4:25 a.m./9:25 a.m.: Brian Harman, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann
4:36 a.m./9:36 a.m.: Russell Henley, Tyrrell Hatton, Min Woo Lee
4:47 a.m./9:47 a.m.: Robert MacIntyre, Bryson DeChambeau, Justin Rose
4:58 a.m./9:58 a.m.: Jordan Spieth, Ludvig Åberg, Viktor Hovland
5:09 a.m./10:09 a.m.: Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Tommy Fleetwood
5:20 a.m./10:20 a.m.: Harris English , Nick Taylor, Tony Finau
5:31 a.m./10:31 a.m.: Lucas Glover, Jhonattan Vegas, Tom Kim
Here's where each pin will be located at Portrush during the second round:
Have a look. Take in those dunes. The medieval ruins down along the coastline. The clubhouse walls jammed with mementos of the legends of Portrush.
When you're done, don't bother hurrying out the door. A table of chatty members and a pint of Guinness are waiting for you upstairs.
Royal Portrush Golf Club might be the host of this week's Open Championship and a top 20 course in the world, but it can also be yours for the day.
It will take some significant foresight and a few hundred quid in peak season, but yes, anyone can book a tee time at Royal Portrush, the final men's major championship venue of 2025.
The Portrush philosophy is simple, and it echoes that of other golf clubs around the U.K. and Ireland.
You don't need to pull any strings or solicit an invitation from an influential member. You just need to plan ahead, deploy your credit card, and brace for seaside gusts. Read more about how you can access the club below.
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Open Championship host Royal Portrush is the rare golf major championship venue you can play