Round Two of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush is underway, and Brian Harman has jumped up to steal the lead. But the tournament is far from over, with Rory McIlroy and Scottie Scheffler lurking. But Bryson DeChambeau was an afterthought coming into Friday at The Open Championship. He changed that on Friday, making a 13-shot improvement to sneak inside the projected cut line.
“Bryson DeChambeau went without a birdie in round one, then made 7 of them today. He is the first player since Camilo Villegas in 2008 to go without a birdie or better in round 1 of the Open [and] then make 7 or more in round 2,” Justin Ray of TwentyFirst Group posted.
DeChambeau was miserable on Thursday, shooting 78 in the first round of The Open Championship. Despite his two U.S. Open titles, the American bomber has struggled on the links in Europe. In seven appearances in golf’s oldest major, he has finished in the top 30 just once.
DeChambeau followed his usual game plan early, making birdie on the first two par fives and par everywhere else. But that was not going to be enough to make the cut, so he pressed the gas to make a birdie on the ninth. Despite a bogey on the difficult 11th, DeChambeau made four birdies coming in to sneak under the projected cut line.
Despite the great second round, DeChambeau is unlikely to win The Open Championship. Ray posted earlier in the day that 44 of the last 50 Open Champions have been in the top ten after Friday. It would take a lot more than one calamity corner to put DeChambeau, currently tied for 49th, in the top ten.
Brian Harman leads The Open Championship at eight under par, with a pack of great players and unknown golfers chasing him. Can DeChambeau go low on Saturday to get into the mix?
Christopher Hennessy is an MLB associate editor at ClutchPoints, with additional expertise in the NHL and golf. He graduated with a journalism degree from Fordham University in 2022, and he has work experience at Spectrum News One in Albany, New York and with The Hockey Writers as a New York Islanders reporter.
