scottie Scheffler was at the center of all the drama during Round 2 at the British Open.
Most importantly, Scheffler played one of his best rounds all season — and one of the best rounds of his major career — to shoot up leaderboard at The Open Championship. Scheffler was unconscious from the fairways once again and was uncharacteristically fantastic on the greens.
The result? Scheffler leads the British Open after 54 holes behind a 7-under 64 that puts him at 10-under for the tournament.
Scheffler also had a front-row seat for some controversy involving one of his playing partners. Shane Lowry, the 2019 Open winner at Royal Portrush, isn’t having as much fun in his return to the Northern Ireland course. He battled through the first two rounds, a battle that was made even more difficult by the two-stroke penalty he received after completing the day.
Lowry got the penalty because officials deemed his practice swing on the par-5 12th hole caused the ball to move. The Ireland native apparently didn’t see the ball move, and thus didn’t call a penalty on himself. After huddling with the playing group — Scheffler, Lowry and Collin Morikawa — officials made their decision.
Scottie Scheffler Defends Shane Lowry After Two-Stroke Penalty
Lowry handled it as well as he could, saying he’d just have to be even better on the weekend to get into contention, while Scheffler was a little more defensive of his playing partner.
“Ultimately in golf, it’s up to the player, and I thought Shane was put in a pretty tough situation when they’re zooming in on his golf ball, in the rough, and it’s hard to tell,” Scheffler said in a post-round press conference. “From what I looked at very briefly on the video, it look like it was very difficult to see if the ball was moving — or, sorry, if the ball moved. The camera was kind of zooming in and stuff was happening.
“You know, one of the great things about the game of golf is you call your own penalties on yourself. This situation, I think it was a very tough spot for Shane to be put in. He handled it really well, and it’s obviously really frustrating.
“It’s frustrating for me as a competitor and a player of his, just to be, to watch him, you know kind of deal with it because the last thing you want to be known in the game of golf (is) as someone who cheats. I’m not going to state a strong opinion here in the media on whether or not I thought he deserved a penalty. All I’m gonna say is it was a tough situation for him to be put in, and I thought that he handled it really well.”
Scheffler Was Absolutely Dialed With His Own Game
Another unfortunate result of the incident for Scheffler? It takes some of the conversation away from his brilliant play. The three-time major winner was fourth in strokes gained on approach in Round 2, which is a typical day at the office for him. What’s wild, though, is Scheffler was the best putter in the field.
For someone who has struggled as much with the flat stick as Scheffler has int he past, if that’s what he is now, there’s no need to play the weekend. You might as well just give him the Claret Jug right now.
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