Everything you missed from Friday at the 2024 British Open Championship

Justin Rose heads into the third round at Royal Troon ay -5

We’re on the ground at the British Open this week, bringing you all the action you missed from the second tournament day at Royal Troon.

Welcome to day two of the 152nd British Open, the Scottish weather still proceeds to give the players a battering as they try to fight the wind and get into the clubhouse unscathed. Not quite the sunshine we were hoping for but the weather has improved and the umbrellas and waterproofs have been put away for now. The early scoring looked promising but as the day goes on the cut line gets higher and higher with some of the big names looking like they’ll be missing out.

Here’s a rundown of everything you missed from Friday’s play at Royal Troon.

No repeat for Stenson 

Henrik Stenson’s hopes of lifting a second Troon Open are over. The Swede, who produces one of the greatest ever final rounds to see off Phil Mickelson in 2016, shot a Friday 73 (+2) to sit +8 for the tournament and five shots outside the projected cut line.

Where is the no-smoking sign?

Daniel Brown is not only throwing darts but he’s ripping them too. After following the overnight leader around Royal Troon on day two, it turns out that he likes to reward a successful tee shot with a few puffs of a cigarette.

Horschel gets hot 

Last time out at Royal Troon in 2016, Billy Horschel had a second round to forget. The American followed up an opening round 67 with an unfortunate 14-over-par round of 85, which meant he missed the cut. Jump to 2024 and everything has changed. After taming the Scottish weather Horschel put together a strong 1-over-par first round followed by a 3-under-par second round to put him in contention going in to the weekend.

Rushed Rahm 

John Rahm turned up to the practice green 10 minutes before his 2.37 tee time (link to tee times) to two golf balls his caddie had thrown on the floor. No strategy to his practice session, balls remained unaligned, and he just grabbed his putter and began to hit. Much like my Sunday morning practice session really, although his first ball went in, mine usually doesn’t. 

Preparation is key

Bob McIntyre seemed slightly unprepared as he left the first tee box, asking the starter for a pin sheet for the day. 

The big cat will be back

Tiger Woods will be back at the British Open next year at Royal Portrush. The 15-time Major champion simply answered “Definitely,” when asked if he’d be at Royal Portrush, immediately after signing his card. The smile that spread across his face contrasted with the sadness that he (and we) were feeling inside.

Mcilroy is one of us  

The four-time major champion Rory McIlroy is having yet another day to forget and in a hurry too. After shooting 7-over-par in round one he needed a fast start and he’s struggled yet again. After two opening pars, he followed it up with a bogey and a triple on the 4th hole. After a wayward tee shot the Northern Irishman topped his second shot 3ft in front of him in the rough followed by another trip to the rough and to the greenside trap before holing out for an eight.

The worst round in British Open history?

When you play three holes in 13-over par, you know it’s not your day. Japan’s Aguri Iwasaki endured a nightmare on the back nine as he came home in 52 shots for a 20-over-par round on Friday. The 26-year-old teed off with hopes of making the weekend having played his opening 18 in 74 (+3). See where Iwasaki’s round ranks in the history of The Open’s highest scores.

From hero to zero

After a wonderful opening round of 3-under-par, Justin Thomas looked set to grab the bull by the horns and post another solid score to put him in contention for the weekend. Unfortunately after a second-round front nine of 45 shots his hopes of lifting the claret jug are fading away much faster than expected. With four bogeys, a double, and a triple on the 9th he watched his name plummet down the leaderboard.

Rose heads into moving day 5-under 

A birdie on the final hole left Rose one back from leader Shane Lowry. Speaking to the media after his round, he credited Burnham and Berrow with helping him get ready for this week, he qualified for The 152^nd Open on the Somerset links. He also spoke about feeling a little impatient on the 18^th tee, he was seen juggling golf balls while for his playing partner to return from a toilet break. Rose has only had one bogey in his opening 36-holes, and after hitting driver and 3-wood into the 15^th hole during practice rounds, it was a driver and sand-wedge today. What a difference. 

Shane Lowry vs Cameraman  

After finding the rough to the right of the 11^th fairway, Shane Lowry then hit his second shot left into the gorse because of the grass grabbing his hosel and flipping his iron over. After that shot he was unhappy with a cameraman to his right and he made it known.  

Speaking to the media after his round, Lowry said “I got a little bit distracted on the right just as I was over the shot, and I kind of lost a bit of train of thought. You’re so afraid of going right there that I just snagged the club and went left.” 

He hit a provisional onto the green and was hoping his first ball wouldn’t be found – sadly for the Irishman it was.  “To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a six. It wasn’t a disaster. I was still leading the tournament,” said Lowry. 

Win a pair of FootJoy shoes signed by eight Open Champions

We’ve been on the ground at The British Open this week, and we’ve found eight past Open Champions to sign a limited edition pair of Harris Tweed FootJoy Premiere Series Field golf shoes.

To enter the giveaway, simply fill in the from here.

The golf shoes have been signed by Shane Lowry, Henrik Stenson, Jordan Spieth, Francesco Molinari, Phil Mickelson, Padraig Harrington, Brian Harman and Collin Morikawa. Oh, and they’re a men’s UK size 9. Not that you’d want to wear them.

The shortest hole in Open History is not to be messed with  

The Postage Stamp is the shortest hole in Open history and yet one of the most revered par-3s in the world as Joaquin Niemann found out after having to play out of the dreaded coffin bunker and carding a five-over-par eight on the hole today. For this year’s championship the 8^th hole at Royal Troon is coming in at a mere 120 yards.

Making their own entertainment

A group of Scottish kids set their goal for the afternoon to collect as many players’ balls as possible as the groups left the 18th green. They enjoyed a lot of success at getting the stars to throw their balls into the stand… less joy with catching them, with several bouncing down gaps in the stand as they scrambled with each other to get the prized possessions. Their attempts at pronouncing some of the players’ names were less successful but, to be fair, we struggle with Bezuidenhout, too. Just go with Christiaan, next time, kids.

How many is too many?

Friday afternoon got a bit rowdy, with the crowds tucking into the beer and spirits from an early hour. Deputy Digital Editor, Sarah, encountered two drunk Scottish men on the 17^th hole, who offered her whisky while she was waiting for shots to be hit from the tee. She turned down the whisky, of course, and they proceeded to ask her who her favourite golfer was. When she took a second to think and give her answer (Seve, of course), she was met with “I bet you don’t f**cking know any of their names”.  Needless to say, she carried on following Rose and Molinari down to the green.

Some trends aren’t for golf

We really wish someone would silence the guy shouting ‘hawk-tuah’ every time someone hits a drive on 18.

Bad golf, worse throw

Ludvig Åberg won’t play the weekend in his first Open appearance. To rub salt into the wound, his attempt to throw a ball to the fans on the 18th also fell short. In fact, it barely left the ground, clattering into the bottom of the grandstand to leave the Swede looking embarrassed.

Customised Caddie

Defending Champions at The British Open get a purpose made caddie bib. Brian Harman’s caddie, Scott Tway, has a dark navy bib this year, adorned with the Open Championship logo to commerorate Harman’s win at Royal Liverpool in 2023.

Troon has it’s own ‘Party Hole’

When our Deputy Digital Editor, Sarah, headed out to walk with Rose and Molinari, she was welcomed onto the 14th tee by a very friendly group of marshalls. They supplied her with a pocket-ful of Werther’s Originals, and claimed they had their own LIV style ‘party hole’ out on the back-nine. Maybe they were right, as Rose had to ask the grandstand to quieten down before he hit his tee shot into the par-3.

Friends reunited?

It’s not that long ago that Tiger Woods and Bryson DeChambeau were bosom buddies, playing together in the Ryder Cup and regularly sharing laughs at tournaments. But relations became strained once DeChambeau joined LIV and Tiger reportedly ignored a birthday greeting from the two-time US Open champ. But, at Troon, the 15-time Major winner reached out to congratulate his fellow American on his success at Pinehurst. “I’m sure that winning two US Opens definitely helped, I guess, for him coming up and saying congrats,” DeChambeau said. “I don’t know what his position is, but it was very thoughtful, and I was appreciative of it.”

DeChamb-woe

The Open remains the Major that Bryson looks least likely to claim. Barring a T8 at St Andrews in 2022, his record now reads MC-T33-T60-MC in his other five starts. He blamed his equipment for his poor start on Thursday but never looked like getting himself back inside the cut line.

Happy Homa

Max Homa’s monster birdie putt on the 18th hole saw him sneak through to the weekend, but the way he celebrated would be more fitting of the winner on Sunday evening. So why so much emotion? “I’ve not been playing very well and golf hasn’t been a lot of fun or handling things very well mentally,” he said afterwards. “I didn’t expect to celebrate like I’d won the thing, but this is my favourite tournament in the world.”

Brian continues the trend

Harman continues the trend of defending champions making the cut the year following their win. Since 2009, only five golfers have missed the cut mark in the year they returned to defefend their title. Cink in 2010, Clarke in 2012, Mickelson in 2014, Stenson in 2017 and Morikawa in 2022.

Rory’s in holiday mode

Speaking to the media after his second round, where he failed to make the cut, Rory said “I think once I made the 8 on the 4th hole, that was it. 22 holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week.”

Game-on for the silver medal

The battle for the silver medal is on after four amateurs made the cut at the 152^nd British Open. The front-runner for the silver medal heading into the weekend is Scotland’s very own Calum Scott who sits at four-over-par.  

The three amateurs chasing Scott are Jacob Skov Olesen (+5), Luis Masaveu (+6), and Tommy Morrison (+6). Special mention has to be made for Matthew Dodd-Berry who looked to have a great chance at winning the silver medal after a 72 in round one, but he had torrid luck on day two where he shot 80 and moved to +10 for the Championship.  

About the author

Will Shreeve-Peacock – Golf Equipment Writer

Will is an expert in golf shoes, GPS watches, rangefinders, and training aids.

He has a degree in journalism from Sheffield Hallam University and four years’ experience working in golf retail with American Golf where he was trained by a host of the big-name manufacturers.

A six-handicapper, Will has played golf for more than a decade and is a member at Burghley Park Golf Club in Stamford, Lincolnshire.