The Open 2023: round two – live | The Open

So much for Adrian Otaegui’s dream of emulating Nick Faldo’s closing round of 18 pars at Muirfield in 1987. His run breaks at the 11th and not in the manner he’d have wanted. A bogey to drop down to -3. Meanwhile it’s par for Rory at 2 despite a wayward tee shot, while Viktor Hovland can’t get up and down from the side of 3 and hands back the shot he picked up on the opening hole. He’s -1.

Anything Brian Harman can do, Tom Kim can do better equally as well. The dishy (see below) Korean sensation, many a hipster’s choice, shot a disappointing 74 yesterday. But the birdie he made on 18 appears to have given him fresh impetus. He’s flown around the front nine in 31 strokes this morning, with birdies at 4, 5, 7 and 8. Blimey! Along with Harman, he’s the hottest property out there today at four under for his round; he’s -1 overall.

There is absolutely no stopping Brian Harman. He sends his second at the par-five 5th, a fairway wood, onto a bare patch of rough to the left of the green. But no matter. A crisp chip takes one bounce before clattering into the flagstick and very nearly dropping in for eagle. He taps home for his fourth birdie in a row. This is sensational! Meanwhile Alex Noren’s up-and-down round continues apace with his fourth bogey of the day, this time at 9, and he drops to -2 again, while conversely Adrian Otaegui continues to channel his inner Nick Faldo by making it ten pars in a row.

-8: Harman (5)
-5: Lamprecht -a-, Fleetwood
-4: Otaegui (10), Rozner
-3: Grillo (7), Homa, Sharma, Stewart, Cink, Clark
-2: Noren (9), Hovland (2), Migliozzi, Wilson, Jordan, Spieth, Kim

Here’s Rory! The pre-tournament co-favourite, alongside Scottie Scheffler, was way below his best for the majority of yesterday’s round, but late birdies at 14 and 15 salvaged a level-par round of 71. The dream of back-to-back championships at Hoylake is far from over. And perhaps that astonishing par-saving up and down from the bunker at 18, one leg in, one knee on the ground, will have given him both succour and a confidence boost. Well, he certainly comes out this morning with a spring in his step, and absolutely blooters his opening tee shot down the track. He then knocks his approach from 170 yards to ten feet .. and rolls the birdie putt into the centre of the cup, no messing! He struts rather than bounces off the green, in the manner of a man who means business. God speed, Rory. He’s -1.

Hats off to JT, who must have been fearing the worst after that dismal opening shot. He then pulled his second into more trouble on the other side of 1, but class will out eventually, and he wedges from 75 yards to four feet, and tidies up for a nerve-settling par. He’s +11 and like we say, some weird miracle aside, won’t be here for the weekend play, but fingers crossed he gets something going today that will help him turn his form around. And yes that’s more of the sort of aforementioned sympathy he won’t appreciate as a proud pro, but what you gonna do? By the way, he’s going round with Viktor Hovland, who having salvaged a 70 yesterday with three birdies over the last eight holes, is still very much in the hunt … and the 25-year-old Norwegian makes an opening birdie to move to -2.

Three birdies on the bounce for Brian Harman! The result of yet another 20-foot putt. That flat stick is nigh-on molten. The leader stretches his cushion at the top to two strokes. Meanwhile a much-needed birdie for Emiliano Grillo at the par-five 5th. He arrests his morning slide by repairing a third of the damage done. He’s back to -3, alongside Alex Noren, the Swede having made three birdies and three bogeys across his first eight holes.

-7: Harman (4)
-5: Lamprecht -a-, Fleetwood
-4: Otaegui (9), Rozner
-3: Noren (8), Grillo (5), Homa, Sharma, Stewart, Cink, Clark

Justin Thomas smiled wryly – extremely dryly – on 18 last night upon receiving that professional golfer’s worst nightmare, sympathetic applause, as he run up a quadruple-bogey nine. He does so again now as he gets another Loving Ovation From Folk Who Mean Well as he takes to the 1st tee. He’ll not be here for the weekend whatever happens today, after yesterday’s 82-shot fiasco, and further demonstrates that by taking hybrid for extreme safety, then wanging it into the deep stuff down the right. The two-time PGA Championship winner is way off his game, and has been pretty much all year. Going through a wee existential crisis, as all golfers do now and then. Probably a good thing to get back home to Florida for the weekend to rest and reset.

Tom Britten has been at Hoylake since practice on Wednesday and he sends in his report. “All the focus has been on 17 ruining rounds, but 18 might be just as bad for some. That trio of pot bunkers left guarding the green on the par 5 are horrendous. From the grandstand we watched Taichi Kho find himself in one for two, eventually getting on the green for eight, having decided he’d like another go in the same bunker after playing out backwards. Two-putt for a ten. Nightmare. Heading home tonight. Watching the rest this weekend smugly dry and warm from anywhere I can elevate my feet. Timing.”

Yes, it’ll be interesting to see how the bunkers play today all right. They’ve apparently raked them using a different method today, which is less likely to encourage the ball to run right up to the face. So that in theory should give players more of a chance of getting up, over and out. However as Dame Laura Davies pointed out on Sky, the slight upward slope of sand raked towards the face may lead to a few plugged balls, should they hit that face and drop straight down. Fun and entertainment guaranteed either way.

Brian Harman rolls in another! This time it’s a right-to-left slider across 3 from 25 feet, and the 2017 US Open runner-up takes sole ownership of the lead at the 151st Open Championship. Meanwhile eagle-eyed readers will have spotted overnight co-leader Emiliano Grillo continuing to head in the wrong direction: he followed his double at 2 by dropping another shot at 3, and he’s currently three over for his round after just four holes, and -2 for the championship.

-6: Harman (3)
-5: Lamprecht -a-, Fleetwood
-4: Otaegui (8), Rozner

Only two left-handed players have won the Open: Bob Charles in 1963 and Phil Mickelson in 2013. Only two have finished in second spot: the same pair, in 1968 and 1969, and 2011 and 2016, respectively. It’s about time for another, and why not Brian Harman (who, like Mickelson, is only left-handed when playing golf)? He tied for sixth last year at St Andrews, closing with a 66 only bettered on the day by the Camerons Smith and Young, who finished first and second. So the 36-year-old Georgian knows how to get around a links. He rolls in a 20-footer for birdie at 2 to join the leaders, and the dream of becoming the Open Championship’s third lefty champion is on.

-5: Harman (2), Lamprecht -a-, Fleetwood
-4: Otaegui (7), Rozner
-3: Homa, Sharma, Stewart, Cink, Clark
-2: Noren (6), Grillo (4), Migliozzi, Wilson, Jordan, Spieth, Kim

A nice steady start for Adrian Otaegui. Six pars, and he remains one off at -4. The 30-year-old Spaniard – a disciple of Jose Maria Olazabal – has four DP World Tour victories on his resumé, the most impressive of which being the final edition of the Andalucia Masters at Valderama, which he won last year at a canter after shooting 64-68 over the weekend. He’s got a couple of big second places to his name this season as well, at the Dunhill Championship and the KLM Open, so he’s an in-form player who knows how to get round some tough tracks in Europe. A stretch to think he’ll prevail this week, though you never know … but first things first, and we can surely say that barring a complete meltdown, he’ll be making the cut, something he failed to do at Portrush four years ago on his only other appearance at an Open.

It hasn’t taken long for one of the overnight leaders to hit a bump in the road. In light rain, Emiliano Grillo finds a pot bunker guarding the front of 2, then overhits his chip out. His ball skitters across the dancefloor and disappears down the other side. He putts back up from the swale, but weakly, and can’t make the ten-foot bogey putt he leaves himself. And just like that, the 30-year-old Argentinian topples off the toppermost of the poppermost.

-5: Lamprecht -a-, Fleetwood
-4: Otaegui (6), Harman (1), Rozner
-3: Grillo (2), Homa, Sharma, Stewart, Cink, Clark
-2: Noren (4), Migliozzi, Wilson, Jordan, Spieth, Kim

Hoylake was playing pretty tough yesterday with its defences pretty much down, so the cooler air, spots of rain and higher wind is having the effect you’d imagine. No wild early scoring. Only five of the morning starters are under par for their round so far – Rasmus Hojgaard, Kang Kyung-Nam, Gary Woodland, Alex Fitzpatrick and Brendon Todd – and of those, only the first two are two shots to the good today. None of them are close to bothering the upper echelons of the leaderboard, though. Speaking of which …

Preamble