Scheffler honing in on links breakthrough
World No. 1 stakes himself to midway lead at Portrush; Harman is back in the hunt
Will Scottie Scheffler join Shane Lowry as Portrush champion? (Stuart Franklin/R&A via Getty Images)
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Before he ever won on the PGA Tour, before he played in a Ryder Cup, before he’d even played in the British Open, Scottie Scheffler headed to the Scottish Open.
It was the first time Scheffler ever played links golf or had even been in the United Kingdom.
For many players, the adjustment to links golf is among the biggest challenges in the game. The turf is firm, the style of play is different, the conditions can be frustrating — to put it mildly.
All that was a long time ago for Scheffler. All the way back to 2021.
The Scottish Open that year was played during COVID, without spectators and under strict pandemic protocols. Scheffler, who had yet to emerge as the force he is today, shot a second-round 63 at the Renaissance Club and finished tied for 12th.
A week later, he tied for eighth in his Open debut, the championship won by Collin Morikawa at Royal St. George’s. It was Scheffler’s third consecutive top-10 in a major championship that year and probably should have been a sign of more to come. The following year, he won the Masters and ascended to world No. 1.
Links golf? No problem.
“I love this style of golf,” said Scheffler on Friday after shooting a tournament low 7-under 64 to take a one-shot lead at the halfway point of the 153rd Open. “I don’t know if adjusting my game would be the way to describe it. You just hit more shots than I typically practice. You use a little bit more of the tools that I have over here. You get to play a lot of different shots — high, low — and that’s something that I’ve always enjoyed, being able to work the ball and hit different types of shots.
“Like I said, it’s fun for me to come over here and use those tools.”
Scheffler has adapted quite well to the links game. He’s played the Genesis Scottish Open four times, and while he missed the cut in 2022 he tied for third two years ago when Rory McIlroy was the winner. Last week, he tied for eighth.
In four Open appearances, Scheffler has fared no worse than 23rd, with a tie for eighth at Royal St. George’s and a tie for seventh last year at Royal Troon. Before this week, he had never played at Royal Portrush.
Scheffler did what he does so well on Thursday by lurking, shooting a 3-under 68 to trail the leaders by one shot despite hitting only three fairways. On Friday, Scheffler birdied the first hole and cruised steadily through the first nine hitting every green in regulation and notching three more birdies to turn in 32. He birdied the 10th before the skies opened up with a downpour and he missed his first fairway at 11 that led to bogey. But subsequent birdies at 13, 16 and 17 pushed him one shot ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick.
He narrowly missed another birdie from 15 feet on No. 18 that would have tied the modern course record of 63 set by Shane Lowry en route to victory in 2019. He recorded eight birdies in shooting his best score in 18 career rounds in the Open.
Scheffler’s 64 was the lowest of the championship and means he’ll be in the final group Saturday with Fitzpatrick, the 2022 U.S. Open champion.
“I felt like I hit a few more fairways than I did yesterday, hit some really nice iron shots, and was able to hole some putts,” said Scheffler, who has three victories this year including the PGA Championship and is eyeing adding a Claret Jug to his two green jackets and Wanamaker Trophy.
Reaching the career grand slam took Rory McIlroy awhile, needing 11 chances at the last leg at Augusta before finally becoming the sixth all-time to accomplish the feat.
Now the 29-year-old Scheffler is looking to capture his third leg over the weekend. He’ll tee off Saturday with his first-ever lead in the Open and credits this year’s success to his putting.
“At the end of last year, I always kind of assess things and see if there are ways we can improve,” said Scheffler, who adopted a claw grip last fall that he uses inside 20 feet. “That was something we tested out in the Bahamas last year and felt comfortable from the start. I use it as we get closer to the hole. Outside of 15 to 20 feet, I’m still putting conventional. It was something we felt could help us improve, and so far, it has.”
Brian Harman has developed a chill approach that works to links golf (Stuart Franklin/R&A via Getty Images)
The wee ‘Butcher of Hoylake’ is back in the hunt
By Alex Miceli
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — When Brian Harman had a good week in 2023 at Hoylake, winning his first major championship, it was a surprise but not shocking to see the 5-foot-6 American walk up the 18th hole on Sunday with his hands firmly on possessing the Claret Jug.
For most of the last three rounds at Royal Birkdale, Harman was in complete control of the outcome, which included a 6-under 65 in the second round to take a five-shot lead over first-round co-leader Tommy Fleetwood of England.
The then 36-year-old left-hander was bogey-free that Friday, which included an eagle on the last hole to put the entire field on notice.
It’s two years later, and Harman, now 38, is again hovering near the top of the leaderboard again. This time everyone knows the hunting enthusiast they dubbed “the Butcher of Hoylake” is capable of winning again.
The 6-under 65 he shot on Friday at Royal Portrush was also bogey-free.
“I feel really comfortable over here,” Harman said after taking the early Friday lead at 8-under-par before Haotong Li caught him while Scottie Scheffler and Matt Fitzpatrick passed him in the evening. “I’m comfortable driving it. I don’t know. They’re very different golf courses, but the golf is similar.”
After struggling with the links game starting with his 0-4 record in the Palmer Cup at Prestwick as an amateur, it took some time for Harman to adjust. But eventually getting use to flighting the ball, controlling distances, stowing his lob wedge and adjusting to the inevitable frustration when the ball ends up in funny places became something that Harman came to relish.
Harman says Portrush is different from Royal Liverpool, forcing players to be a little more creative.
“There’s probably 10 different types of clubs, irons, drivers, woods that you can hit off the tee,” Harman said of the numerous ways the Dunluce Course can be approached. “There are different ways to attack the green, and there’s almost always a hill that will kind of kill a shot coming into the green.”
Before this week, Harman had made the last four cuts in the Open. In addition to his 2023 victory, he was T6 in 2022 at St. Andrews, T19 in 2021 at Royal St. George’s and T60 last year at Royal Troon.
In his last 16 Open rounds, Harman has nine scores in the 60s with a scoring average of 69.81 despite an 11-over performance at Troon.
“I’ll approach the weekend the same way,” Harman said of the similarity of his plan on Saturday and when he won at Hoylake. “The only thing I’m really worried about is the first tee ball tomorrow, and then I’ll try to hit the next one up there close to the flag. If not, go to the second hole. It’s a very boring approach that I take.
“I know that I’ve got the game to do it, and it’s just a matter of executing and staying in my own head.”