Harman in control at Open
His 10-under 132 after 36 holes matches the record set by Woods and McIlroy.
HOYLAKE, England — Brian Harman found himself in elite company through two rounds at Royal Liverpool, tying the 36-hole record also held by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy. Even better was having no company at all atop the leaderboard Friday in the British Open.
Harman seized control early with four straight birdies and saved his best for the final hole. He ripped a fiveiron to 15 feet for eagle, giving him a six-under 65 and a fiveshot lead over Tommy Fleetwood going into the weekend.
Harman’s 65 matched the lowest score for Royal Liverpool, which is hosting the Open for the 13th time. He was at 10-under 132, the same score Woods had in 2006 and McIlroy in 2014 when they went on to win the claret jug.
Not since Scottie Scheffler at the 2021 Masters has a player led a major by five shots through 36 holes. The last player to lead the British Open by five shots at the halfway point was Louis Oosthuizen at St. Andrews in 2010. Both went on to win handily.
“I understand a lot can happen at an Open, but eight shots is a lot of shots to spot a player who’s playing really well,” said Jordan Spieth, who lost three shots on the back nine for a 71 that left him eight behind.
McIlroy had even more ground to make up. He figured a round in the 60s would have put him right back in the mix.
He lost his spark around the turn and only a birdie at the par-five 18th allowed him to break par with a 70. He was nine shots behind in his quest to end nine years without a major.
Harman cared only about a little food, a little sleep and not thinking about much more.
“I’ve had a hot putter the last couple days, so try to ride it through the weekend — 36 holes to go, so try to rest up and get ready,” Harman said.
The key to Saturday might be to stay dry with rain in the forecast.
Sepp Straka had six birdies over his last seven holes — the other was a bogey — for a 31 on the back nine that gave him a 67. He was alone in third place, six shots behind Harman.
Fleetwood made back-toback birdies on the back nine to get within four shots of Harman, only to find a bunker to the left of the 16th fairway. He could only splash out and had to hit a superb pitch to save bogey. He scrambled for par on the final two holes for his 71.
Scheffler, the world’s No. 1 player who has not finished worse than 12th this year, delivered a clutch moment when he got up-and-down from a bunker on the parfive 18th for birdie. That gave him a 74 to make the cut on the number.