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The 36-hole top of the 149th Open Championship has plenty of star power as a pair of former champions contested on Friday and some of the sport’s top talent are on the hunt for the weekend at the Royal St. George’s. Louis Oosthuizen is the solo leader at the top of the 11-under field after playing almost another bogey-less round for a second straight day, realizing a 65 which fell just one stroke off the week’s low after his 64 on Thursday.
The winner’s 129 combined strokes of the 2010 Open Championship over 36 holes set a new Open Championship record, falling one stroke lower than the previous record of 130 previously held by Brandt Snedeker (2012) and Nick Faldo (1992) ).
Open Championship 2017 winner Jordan Spieth is on Oosthuizen’s heels after a 3 under 67 second round that took him to 8 under for the championship. Collin Morikawa is sandwiched between the two and second in the standings at under 9 after posting the low round of the first wave on Friday with a 64 under 6.
This is just a sample of a few of the stars who will carry hopes of contention until the third round on Saturday as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Jon Rahm all had great days to climb the rankings. Check out a breakdown of the action below, and catch up on the highlights from round one in the updates section.
1. Louis Oosthuizen (-11): It was almost a perfect lap for Oosthuizen on Friday as he came close to matching his own low lap of the week. Oosthuizen didn’t have a bogey at Royal St. George’s until No. 16 in the second round, but he still came in with a score of 3 under 32 at the back after playing holes 12-14 to 4 under.
2. Collin Morikawa (-9): No player in men’s golf history has won their debut in two separate major championships, but Morikawa is potentially poised to do just that after a strong performance on Friday. He fell short of tying the course record at Royal St. George’s with his 64 in the second round, becoming the sixth golfer on site to post a 64 or less in an open championship.
3. Jordan Spieth (-8): An under-67 round for Spieth on Friday gives him his second best start out of 36 holes in a major championship of his young career. The previous best and third best starts for him – the 2015 Masters and the 2017 Open Championship – represent two of his three major championships.
T4. Dustin Johnson, Dylan Frittelli, Scottie Scheffler (-6): After a slow start to the first round on Thursday, DJ closed in style on the back and continued that momentum until the second round with a nine before 33. He came home in 32 and played the last seven to 3 under. This is his ninth career round of 65 or better in a major championship, the most among any golfers, according to Justin ray. This is the first Open Championship appearance for 25-year-old Scheffler and the second time Frittelli has been selected for The Open in four tries. The two are on the hunt for their first career major tournament win after securing their best US Open record last month.
T12. Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm and two others (-5): Koepka after his second lap 66 had a bit of extra pep in his gait when he pulled a subtle shot at Bryson DeChambeau, stating, “I love my driver.” He closed his round with four birdies on his last five holes. Rahm’s 64 are tied for the low round of the week and he enters Saturday after completing his last 27 scoreless holes.
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