Two days worth of golf are in the books at Royal Portrush, as Scottie Scheffler holds a one-shot lead in The Open Championship across the pond in Northern Ireland. Matt Fitzpatrick is only one shot back after a solid 5-under showing on Friday, as the players got some decent conditions and many were able to go low, including Scheffler, whose 7-under 64 was the round of the day. Brian Harman and Haotong Li are tied for third at 8-under, while Scottish Open winner Chris Gotterup fired a 6-under to move into the top five.

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As always, our VSiN golf analysts had you covered with pre-tournament analysis, but we don’t stop there. We’ll be talking about the action on our live VSiN programming, and we’ll also have some daily notes from our top golf minds. So, keep reading for some second-round observations and third-round predictions.

The Open Championship leaderboard

The Open Championship third-round tee times

The Open Championship latest odds

Matt Youmans

It’s only halftime at the British Open and this shootout in Northern Ireland is not over yet, though many talking heads are ready to declare Scheffler the winner. He’s now the odds-on favorite (-175) at DraftKings and it’s hard to argue. But it’s far from done and the most important holes will be the final nine on Sunday, so resist jumping to conclusions. Twenty-four other players are within eight strokes of the lead and those players are still alive. Just consider the turnaround by Bryson DeChambeau, who shot a comical 78 on Thursday and rebounded with a 65 on Friday, and remember how quickly golf tournaments can change. DeChambeau (+1) is not in the hunt to win, but he did enough to narrowly make the cut. 

After putting poorly in Scotland last week and driving erratically in the first round, Scheffler smoothed out the rough edges to fire a 64 to take the lead. He’s not in total control, however, because Fitzpatrick, former British champion Brian Harman and Haotong Li are within two. The group at five back includes some dangerous players — Harris English, Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre — capable of making a charge. This is an outstanding leaderboard. I am biased due to having several bets live for the weekend, most notably Scheffler (+600), Fitzpatrick (40-1), Hatton (30-1) and MacIntyre (36-1). Scheffler just posted his lowest career round in a major and that type of performance rarely gets duplicated the next day when some regression typically happens.

I’m basically in an ideal wagering position at this point and don’t need to add anything now. Still, the player who concerns me most is Harman, who’s dialed in off the tee and with his putter. Harman, 12-1 on the adjusted odds board, is worth a look. Harman won the British in 2023 by six shots and obviously has the right style for links golf.

Wes Reynolds

Coming soon.

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