Scottie Scheffler

Scottie Scheffler may be in familiar territory on the leaderboard. But he has faced new challenges at The 152nd Open. 

Cavernous bunkers, caddie sickness and cruel conditions ensured the world number one will have to wait at least another day to make his customary charge.

He is happy enough with his standing, however, after a second successive round of 70 left him five shots off Championship leader Shane Lowry heading into the weekend.

“I definitely made a few more putts than yesterday. I think the golf course was more challenging today,” he said.

“I hit a lot of good ones, some up around the cup. It can be really challenging with how windy it is out there to hole a bunch of putts.

“Yesterday was one of those days where it felt like nothing could fall, and I think I was down maybe half a shot, which I would have imagined when I walked off the course it would have been worse than that.

“So being able to hole a few, especially some important ones on the back nine for par, those always feel good, keeping the momentum.”

The stats support Scheffler’s assessment. He made four putts fewer on Friday and gained 1.98 strokes with the flat stick during his second round despite bogeying the last.

But it wasn’t just on the putting surface that Scheffler sparkled.

He overcame the most difficult of stances to escape a bunker on the 5th and while he lost a stroke on the hole, his ingenuity was very much appreciated by the Ayrshire crowd.  

“I think it's just how I grew up. I always loved practising and playing," said Scheffler. 

“I always loved being able to curve the ball. That's just something that I always loved to do. It kind of fascinated me a little bit.

“To me that's kind of the fun part of the game, and out here it can be challenging. It can be challenging at times to pick the appropriate shot just because the bounces can be unpredictable and stuff like that.”

To complicate matters further, Scheffler’s caddie Ted Scott was evidently struggling through illness and could be seen lying prone around the edge of Royal Troon’s greens.

Scott soldiered on to the finish, rejecting the possibility of a replacement, and will likely benefit from a few hours rest just as much as the Claret Jug contender he bags for. 

“He had a bit of food poisoning last night - well, it could have been food poisoning, it could be some sort of stomach bug,” said Scheffler.

“But he seemed to feel better as the day went on. The doctor here took good care of him. But he did not sleep very much last night apparently.

“We didn't know if he was going to be able to go this morning, but he fought it out. You saw him laying down quite a bit out there, which was pretty funny.

“It's just one of those deals, you're used to him being in one position, standing there by the bag, and then all of a sudden on nine today he was literally sitting on the 10th tee for 10 minutes while we were putting out over there.

“I didn't even see him, which was a bit unusual. He's a fighter. He did a good job today and battled through it.”

“Overall, it's been a fun couple of days and I'm looking forward to the weekend.”