HOYLAKE, England – Scottie Scheffler needed a nifty up-and-down from a greenside bunker Friday to make the cut on the number at The Open.
Near the face of a steep bunker on the par-5 finishing hole at Royal Liverpool, Scheffler popped his ball onto the front fringe, received a fortuitous kick toward the flag and had a kick-in birdie to safely get in the house at 3-over 145.
Scheffler, ranked 143rd out of 156 players in putting this week, was still 13 shots back of Brian Harman’s halfway lead.
The 3-over mark was a popular number for some of the pre-tournament favorites. PGA champion Brooks Koepka came home in 41, including a double bogey on the last, to barely play the weekend. Patrick Cantlay, Rickie Fowler and Adam Scott also got in on that number. Xander Schauffele’s birdie on the last moved him to 2 over and extended his PGA Tour-leading cuts-made streak to 30.
Scheffler has now made 22 in a row, dating to last year’s playoff opener in Memphis. He’ll have work to do if he wants to continue his streak of 18 consecutive top-12 finishes, however. He’ll enter the weekend in a tie for 61st.
At least he has a Saturday tee time.
Collin Morikawa, the 2021 Open champion, missed by a shot, with Tony Finau, Sam Burns, Shane Lowry, Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson among those who are also headed home early.
Defending champion Cam Smith needed a birdie on the last hole Friday to play the weekend, but he did one better – he roped a 6-iron to within tap-in range for an eagle-3 to close.
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