Open: Brian Harman five clear of Tommy Fleetwood as Scottie Scheffler makes a tight cut | Golf news

Brian Harman moved up the Leaderboard after a second round 65; Rory McIlroy on the back nine as he chases an elusive fifth major win; Four were arrested after protesters tried to disrupt play on the 17th green; Watch the whole weekend live on Sky Sports Golf

Brian Harman holds a five-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood at the 151st Open weekend as world number one Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Cameron Smith survived scares to pull clear.

The American fired an eagle and four birdies in a superb six-under 65 to move to 10 under at Royal Liverpool, taking 132 shots over 36 holes to match Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s Open wins on the first two days at the same venue.

Harman has a commanding lead over Fleetwood, who remains in fifth place ahead of Ryder Cup hopeful Sepp Straka on a day when four Just Stop Oil protesters were arrested for trying to cause disruption on the 17th green.

McIlroy is nine shots back in pursuit of a fifth major title and a second at Hoylake, while Scheffler needed to birdie the final hole and Smith made an incredible eagle to get through the weekend.

How Harman jumped to five at Hoylake

Harman started the day hitting the lead but moved up the leaderboard when he got to second from 20 feet with the first of three long-range birdies, and the left-hander added another fifth at the fifth after hitting a pin with his chip from the rough to make the cut.

The world number 26 played the 12th after having to play sideways from a bunker and hole from 10ft to avoid dropping a shot at the 17th, then added to his lead by signing a flawless card with a 15ft eagle at the fifth.

Fleetwood – who shared the overnight lead with Emiliano Grillo and amateur Christo Lamprecht – was Harman’s closest challenger in the afternoon heat, though he was over the round until he nailed a 60-foot birdie at the fourth 10th to get back to five under.

The Englishman responded by bogeying the par-three 13th by chipping in from 20 feet for the next first of back-to-back birdies, only to bogey the 16th after coming up from a fairway bunker and then converting from 11 feet to save par on the 17th.

Fleetwood ended up in the stands watching to get to the green in two, then chipped over the green on his third shot, although he saved par to ensure he plays alongside Harman in the final group on Saturday.

Straka tied for the tournament with seven holes remaining but bogeyed each of the next four, and the Austrian responded to a bogey at the 16th by finishing with back-to-back birdies to jump into third place.

Min Woo Lee, Shubhankar Sharma and former world number one Jason Day are tied for fourth at three under, while 2017 champion Spieth is eight off the pace after posting three bogeys in 39.

McIlroy saved a last-under 70, leaving him in the same group as Royal Liverpool’s Matthew Jordan, and the US Open champion was also one under after bogeying the final hole.

Big names battle it out at Hoylake

Former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Masters winner Jon Rahm are dueling with Tyrrell Hatton, who finished with four bogeys on the back nine, and Smith is also 12 back despite nearly knocking off an albatross to leave Kotka on the closing hole.

Scheffler entered the event on the back of seven consecutive top-five finishes, but fell down the leaderboard with four bogeys on the back-to-back nines of six holes, and the American survived only after the luck of a bunker with a final tap-in-birdie.

Collin Morikawa missed the cut after back-to-back 73s, and Justin Rose also dropped out after a second-round 74, while 2019 champion Shane Lowry and two-time PGA champion Justin Thomas were among others to make early exits.

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