Welcome to live second round scores and leaderboard updates from the 153rd Open Championship on Royal Portrush's famous Dunlace Links.
Rory McIlroy is the superstar attraction teeing off in the morning wave of groups in Friday's second round.
McIlroy incredibly found just two fairways en route to a 1-under 70 in Thursday's first round at The Open.
It promised much more when he rose to 3-under par around the turn, but despite a torrid run of bogeys thereafter he made a birdie on the penultimate hole to finish the day in the red.
McIlroy starts the second round three shots off the pace and he will therefore be looking to claw back the deficit ahead of the weekend.
The Northern Irishman missed the cut by one shot the last time Royal Portrush held The Open in 2019.
McIlroy is once again joined for the second round by Justin Thomas and Tommy Fleetwood, who both start the day over par.
The star grouping tees off their second round at 10.09am local time.
A logjam group of players lead the way on 4-under par heading into the second round, including Matt Fitzpatrick, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Harris English, Jacob Skov Olesen and Haotong Li.
As expected, pre-tournament favourite Scottie Scheffler is hot on the heels of the leaders courtesy of a 3-under 68 on Thursday.
Scheffler nearly holed out for eagle on the 17th, a shot that was made even more dramatic after what unfolded in the commentary box.
The World No.1 is seeking a first Open title, which would send him to within one leg of the career grand slam.
Scheffler gets his second round underway at 3.10pm.
Other players in early contention for the 153rd Open include English duo Tyrrell Hatton and Justin Rose, as well as LIV Golf superstar Jon Rahm and former Portrush Open champion Shane Lowry.
Major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa all have a lot of work to do in order to make the cut.
Here's how we stand heading into Friday:
1 | Jacob Skov Olesen | -4 |
1 | Haotong Li | -4 |
1 | Matt Fitzpatrick | -4 |
1 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout | -4 |
1 | Harris English | -4 |
6 | Scottie Scheffler | -3 |
6 | Matt Jordan | -3 |
6 | Tyrrell Hatton | -3 |
6 | Sadom Kaewkanjana | -3 |
Scroll down this page for live second round leaderboard and latest score updates from the 153rd Open at Royal Portrush...
Currently, the projected cut for the 153rd Open is 2-over.
Several players are relishing the battle out there at the moment, including Bryson DeChambeau who is bouncing back nicely today.
The American, currently 4-over par, sets up a great look at birdie at the par-3 13th.
Looks like he'll have about eight feet to move to 4-under on the day and move closer to sticking around for the weekend.
DeChambeau +4, MacIntyre -4, Rose E (12)
Robert MacIntyre is rewarded with a birdie after hitting a stunning approach into the 12th green.
Bryson DeChambeau also makes a birdie to edge closer to the cut line.
Justin Rose has 15 feet to get one of his dropped shots back, but settles for par.
Harman -7 (14)
Brian Harman escapes the 14th with a good par.
The pin is on the back right of the green today and Harman is pin high with his approach, but he's some 30 foot away.
No dramas, though, as the American two-putts for his four.
He'll take that all day.
McIlroy -1 (11*)
Rory McIlroy has reached the 11th hole. His tee shot finds the first cut of rough and he eases a 7-iron towards the pin.
It looks awfully nice in the air, but it's short.
Long birdie putt coming up...
Hatton -6 (13)
Tyrrell Hatton goes pin-seeking at the 13th.
From 200 yards, the Englishman fires a dart and his golf ball eventually settles to around six feet.
He confidently strokes home the birdie putt and is now one off the lead.
Fleetwood -2, McIlroy -1, Thomas E (10)
McIlroy has an outside look a birdie at the 10th and it's on a decent line, but it comes up short.
Fleetwood saves par from a tricky position.
English -5 (9)
Harris English keeps his clean card going with a nerveless six-foot putt for par at the 9th.
Rose E (11)
Tough scenes for the Englishman at the 11th, who drops three strokes and tumbles way down the leaderboard.
Rose paid the ultimate price for losing his tee shot in the bushes.
Harman -7 (13)
My word. Brian Harman extends his lead to two with another birdie at the 13th.
Harman watches another mid-range putt curl into the cup. He's looking deadly with the flatstick right now.
Harman holes for birdie.
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 18, 2025
He moves to seven-under and opens up a two-shot lead. pic.twitter.com/J0h7w09W8l
Hojgaard -4 (16*)
Rasmus Hojgaard is entering the closing stages of his round.
The Dane has work to do to save his par at the 16th to remain tied for third.
Hojgaard missed the green and a deft chip settles around 10 feet from the hole.
Harman -6 (11), Højgaard -5 (14)
Brian Harman is your solo leader for the first time, as Rasmus Højgaard bogeys 14 to leave the American clear at the front.
Rory, still sitting 1-under at 9, prangs yet another drive well left into the fescue—his ball ricocheting off a fan along the way.
As things stand, any final score 2-over or above will see you through to the weekend, with plenty of big names in contention.
There are plenty of high-profile players in trouble as well, though. Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott are just a few that will be heading home early if they don't start making serious moves.
Harman -6 (10)
An American is once again on top of the leaderboard, as Brian Harman birdies 9 to join Højgaard at 6-under.
He follows this up with a neat scramble for par at 11.
Højgaard -6 (14)
Wow, Højgaard absolutely drains it.
The world number 72 is 6-under now, the lowest score of the tournament so far, and has the outright lead. Still plenty of golf to be played, but he'll almost certainly be around for the weekend.
Hatton -5 (9), R Højgaard -5 (12)
Say what you want about Tyrrell's mental approach—he's playing some great golf right now. The 9th fairway is just the second he's hit today, but he's only missed one green in regulation.
He's finally rewarded with a birdie at the turn and jumps into a share of the lead—as does Rasmus Højgaard, who birdies 12 and puts himself in a great position to grab the outright lead at 13. Stay tuned.
Hatton -4 (7)
In typical Hatton fashion, Tyrrell is hanging within touching distance of the lead, and looking extremely angry doing so.
I would pay an extra $20 to have Tyrell Hatton mic’d up and have full access to his entire round
— Malone Kaak (@the_real_coachK) July 18, 2025
After missing a gettable birdie at 7, he sends his approach well past the flag on the 8th, mopping up with a two-putt for par—cursing himself, the course, and everything around him the whole way.
McIlroy -1 (5)
The 5th presents more problems for Rory. He hooks his drive left into the fairway bunker, landing on the second shelf of the green with his escape. Cue the wedge.
Rory chipping on a green with OB like 15 feet past the hole? 💀💀💀 pic.twitter.com/iSFLCjZLdR
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterNS) July 18, 2025
Sadly he's unable to get up and down in two, and slips back to 1-under.
Harman -5 (7)
Brian Harman is always a fixture in contention at The Open, and sure enough, the 2023 Champion is in the joint lead. He gets up and down from the bunker at 7 to leave himself a four-footer for birdie.
Harman and English very briefly share the lead, however English drops a shot at the 4th to leave Harman on his own at the top of the leaderboard.
McIlroy -2 (4), Hatton -4 (6)
A far more confident showing at the 4th for McIlroy. Not only does he actually find the fairway with his tee shot, he puts his follow-up pitch to within seven feet, and drains the birdie putt.
Hatton, also bounces back with a birdie on the 6th. He's once again within a shot of the lead.
McIlroy 1 (3), Hatton -3 (5)
In the space of three holes, McIlroy suddenly finds himself dead even with Tommy Fleetwood—who started the day four shots behind him. He's forced to take a diabolical chip from next to the bunker at 3rd, swinging with his hands halfway down the club and his feet in the sand. He's unable to save par.
A few holes ahead, Tyrrell Hatton also drops a shot at 5 to fall two shots away from the lead.
English -5 (2)
He very briefly held it yesterday, but once again Harris English has the outright lead.
The American has been flawless so far, and makes his birdie putt look easy to move 5-under and set a new benchmark for the rest of the field to chase.
Meanwhile, it's three birdies in a row for Tommy Fleetwood to open his day! He's now at 1-under and right back in the thick of things.
Fleetwood E, McIlroy -2, Thomas E (2)
Tommy Fleetwood and Justin Thomas both struggled somewhat in the background of Rory's grouping yesterday, ending the day well away from the leading places.
They've started today with huge fight, however. Fleetwood birdies the 2nd for his second in a row, while Thomas sinks a nice putt just after to also move even par.
McIlroy, meanwhile, somehow cleans up from that horrible lie for par.
Aberg E, Hovland -1, Spieth E (3)
The trio of Jordan Spieth, Ludwig Aberg and Viktor Hovland slogged their way around yesterday with varying degrees of success, but they've started today in white-hot fashion.
After all scoring birdies at 2, they repeat the feat at the 3rd. All are now even par or better.
Fowler -2
I said yesterday how much I'd personally enjoy the prospect of a serious Rickie Fowler Open run, and for now he remains right up there. He hits one of the shots of the day so far to leave himself a three-foot birdie putt at the13th and move 2-under.
He's now one of 35 players within two shots of the lead. The real question is who's going to stage a breakaway.
Rose -3 (3)
After coming agonisingly close to birdie on the scoreable second, Justin Rose follows up nicely with a long putt for birdie on the 3rd.
Meanwhile, Rory sends yet another drive askew, his ball coming to rest in the extremely thick stuff just a few feet in-bounds. He's forced to declare an unplayable lie. That's two fairways he's hit so far this week out of a possible 16. Insane.
![Katherine Fitzpatrick [Instagram]](https://cdn.golfmagic.com/2025-07/fitzyballs.jpg?width=1500)
