Lucas Herbert of Australia will enter the weekend with a two-shot lead after he tied the major championship scoring record Friday at the Open Championship in Southport, England.
It would have been just a one-shot edge, but Herbert’s LIV Golf mate Bryson DeChambeau found himself at the center of a rules controversy.
DeChambeau was poised to play with Herbert in Saturday’s final pairing, one off the lead, but a lengthy review after DeChambeau’s round resulted in a two-stroke penalty on his fifth hole, knocking him from 7 under to 5 under.
After Herbert set the pace at 8-under-par 132 in the morning, DeChambeau played in the afternoon wave and finished birdie-birdie to post a 66 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club. However, R&A rules officials met with him after his round and was determined to have improved his lie in the rough at No. 5 by stamping down on tall grass that could have been in his swing path.
His penalty was made official more than an hour after his round ended, leaving him with a triple-bogey 7 on the hole and a 68 for the day. DeChambeau did not speak to media, but his agent told multiple outlets that it was up in the air whether he would keep going in the championship or withdraw in protest.
“He’s a big boy,” agent Brett Falkoff said, per Fried Egg Golf. “He’ll see how he feels. But he certainly feels he was unfairly penalized.”
Instead of a narrow lead over a two-time major champion, Herbert finds himself two clear of Cameron Young (67), Ryan Gerard (67) and first-round leader Jackson Suber (69).
Herbert, 30, needed par at No. 18 to shoot the first 61 in major championship history or birdie to make an unprecedented 60, but his 5-foot par save missed centimeters to the left of the cup.
“I thought it was pretty straight at the start, moving at the end, maybe a little more on the wind as well,” Herbert said. “Wind was off the left. It kind of jagged left early and just never really had a chance.
“Honestly, I’m really happy with the putt I hit. I’d love to hit it again knowing the read, but I wouldn’t hit it again knowing what I knew at the time.”
Herbert was soon joined by Sam Burns, who recorded the seventh 62 at a major to catapult to 5 under. Si Woo Kim of South Korea also shot 67 to join Burns and DeChambeau at 5 under.
Branden Grace of South Africa shot the first round of 62 at a major nine years ago, the last time The Open was held at Royal Birkdale. The list has since grown to seven 62s, counting Herbert’s and Burns’ on Friday.
Herbert was asked when he believed he could equal or better the record of 62.
“It’s not a great question because I’m too much of an optimist, and I thought it when I hit it to about 5 feet on the third hole,” Herbert admitted. “I’m a golf nerd anyway, so I know all the numbers, all the records, everything like that.”
Two groups behind him, Burns holed out for birdie from the greenside bunker at No. 18, capping off a birdie-birdie-birdie finish.
Burns’ 62 was a mirror image of Herbert’s. Whereas the Australian tied the major nine-hole scoring record with a 28 on the front nine, Burns went out in 2 under and made six birdies coming in — including a chip-in at No. 16 before the bunker holeout at No. 18.
“Yeah, it was in a good spot in the bunker (at No. 18), which you never know what you’re going to get in the pot bunkers here. So I was happy when I saw that when I walked up,” Burns said. “It was a tricky bunker shot because I had to land it in the fringe there and use the slope down to the hole. Definitely very lucky for it to go in.”
Of the top seven players on the leaderboard, DeChambeau is the only prior major champion. Herbert has not finished better than T40 at a major since 2022. Young, the World No. 4, is viewed by many as the best player yet to win a major.
Meanwhile, the group tied for eighth at 4 under includes some real threats to make a weekend move. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler shot a 68 with 16 pars and two birdies. He is joined by hometown favorite Tommy Fleetwood (67), Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre (69), England’s Alex Fitzpatrick (67) and Spanish star Jon Rahm (67).
“It’s not the worst position,” Scheffler said. “I struck the ball really nice the last couple days, and so I’m very pleased with that. All you can do is continue to give myself opportunities. That was kind of what I told myself today. I was hitting some good putts as well, the balls just weren’t dropping.”
Rahm was given an official code of conduct warning after throwing a club at the 15th hole. He could be subject to a two-stroke penalty if he has another outburst this weekend.
Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland improved on his opening 72 by five strokes, but left opportunities on the table with eight pars and one birdie on his back nine. His 67 lifted him to 1 under for the week.
Xander Schauffele rebounded from a bogey at No. 17 with a straightforward birdie at No. 18 to shoot 69 and head to the clubhouse at even par. Schauffele extended his run of made cuts at major championships to 19, the longest active streak.
The cut line landed at 1 over par. Notables who won’t play the weekend include former Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia (2 over), PGA Championship winner Aaron Rai of England (2 over), U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark (3 over), Tom Kim of South Korea (3 over), Englishman Matt Fitzpatrick (4 over) and Australia’s Jason Day (4 over). Jordan Spieth faltered to a second-round 77 and finished 10 over, beating only four players who finished two rounds.
–Field Level Media
