Bryson DeChambeau left the windswept links at Royal Portrush somewhat bashed up after a tough first round at The Open Championship and said to himself: “I want to go home.”
The American woke up on Friday with a different mindset.
“I said, ‘You know what, I can’t give up,’” said DeChambeau, who has a popular YouTube channel and is one of the biggest draws in golf. “My dad always told me never to give up, just got to keep going, and that’s what I did today.”
Rebounding from an opening 7-over 78, the No. 15-ranked DeChambeau shot 6-under 65 in the second round — tied for the second lowest of the day — and made the weekend in Northern Ireland.
The two-time U.S. Open champion didn’t even feel he played that much better than on Thursday. The putts just dropped this time.
“There wasn’t much difference,” he said. “That’s why links golf is the way links golf is.”
DeChambeau made the cut on the number at 1 over. Eleven strokes adrift of leader Scottie Scheffler, DeChambeau has little hope of lifting the claret jug for the first time. Other high-profile players have no hope at all.
Brooks Koepka, another LIV Golf star in search of points to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team, is headed home after a round of 74 that left him on 7 over. The five-time major champion missed the cut at three of the four majors this year, finishing 12th in the other at the U.S. Open.
Cameron Smith, the 2022 Open Championship winner at St. Andrews and another LIV player, failed to make the weekend at a fifth straight major after rounds of 72 and 78.
It’s three straight missed cuts at majors for No. 20-ranked Patrick Cantlay, who shot 73-72.
The highest-ranked player to leave Royal Portrush early was No. 6 Collin Morikawa (75-74), the 2021 champion from Royal St. George’s.
Padraig Harrington, a two-time Open champion from Ireland, was given the honor of hitting the first tee shot at The Open Championship and was given warm ovations everywhere he went on the Dunluce Lunks.
He won’t be getting anymore after a 76 left him on 9 over.
Other players from Ireland to miss the cut were a veteran in 2011 champion Darren Clarke (75-73) and a youngster in Tom McKibbin (72-73).
Xander Schauffele shot 69 and made the cut for the 15th straight major, the longest active streak in men’s golf. Yet, at 2-under par, his chances of winning the claret jug in back-to-back years were slim.
Former No. 1 Dustin Johnson kept a career streak going of never missing the cut at all four majors in the same year — but only just.
Johnson teed off at No. 18 on the number at 1-over par. He hit the flagstick with his second shot, and the ball settled a foot away from the cup for a birdie and a 69.
Three players in their 50s will play the weekend: Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson and 1997 champion Justin Leonard. For Leonard, it is his first cut since 2013 — the year Mickelson won the claret jug at Muirfield.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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