Scottie Scheffler at 64 takes the lead at the Open Championship

Portrush, Northern Ireland – the rain was hammering Royal Portrush when Scottie Scheffler poured a birdie putt into his first hole on Friday in the open championship. Doesn't matter. Nothing stopped the world of the world in the world on the way to a 7-below 64 player to build a one-shot lead into the weekend.

Scheffler made eight birdies on another wild afternoon of the weather in Royal Portrush, and his 15-foot-bird attempt on the 18th heard for another centimeter.

The result was a one-shot lead against the former US open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who made four direct birdies to start the back nine until he cooled down on the home route and had to satisfy himself with a 66.

The rain was sometimes difficult, but never took long. The wind was airy, but never with strength that can cause adjustments. The rating was lower, almost two shots lighter than the opening round.

With the exception of some persecution hunters, Scheffler made it look like it wasn't enough.

He was at 10 under 132 when he followed the third leg of the career grand Slam after winning the PGA championship with five shots in May.

Brian Harman got the best of the weather – surprising sunshine – and aimed dead at his hunt for another clear jug. Harman played Bogey-Free for a 64, which together with Li Haotong from China left him only two shots that had a 67.

All others were five shots behind or more.

This includes Rory McIlroy, who went around in his home country with a lot of cheers, but only a few roaring in his homeland -Portrus. Mcilroy had a 69, but lost a lot of soil due to Scheffler, Fitzpatrick and Harman.

He started the second round only three shots behind. In the weekend he goes seven shots behind the top player in the world.

Fitzpatrick was at his lowest point four months ago when he changed his caddy and his trainer and pulled himself up. And now he takes this into the weekend against Scheffler.

“He will have the expectation of going out and dominating. He is an extraordinary player. He is number 1 in the world and we see tiger-like things,” said Fitzpatrick. “I think the pressure is that he wins the golf tournament. For me, of course, I hope that I will have more for the home at home than he will have, but it is an exciting position for me in which I have to be where I was at the beginning of this year.”

Fitzpatrick rolled until a few short putts that he missed, of 5 feet for the 14th and 3 feet for Birdie on 17. Nevertheless, he loosened a 25-foot-saving putt to the last hole and assured that he was in the last group with 9 under 133.

Scheffler was sharp from the start. He met eight of the 14 fairways – compared to three in the opening round – although his Miss never left him too bad. But he sees the breaks on smoother portrush grass and, as always, he looks confident.

None of his eight birdies was closer than 7 feet. Five of them were in the 10-foot area and threw a 35-footbird on the sixth. His lonely Bogey drove on the 11th on a trip into the deep grass, which stopped him to reach the green.

The statistics led to a shrug.

“Overall, I hit the ball,” said Scheffler. “The tournament is only done halfway. I got a good start.”

Harman was called “butcher of Hoylake” when he won the Claret Krug in Royal Liverpool in Royal Liverpool two years ago because the British press was fascinated by the love of the native Georgia for hunting. Now it's about his golf and it was great.

Harman played Bogey-Free, only once had to strain as a Royal Portrush to enable good hits in the weather, which in turn did not meet.

Not that someone complains. The temperatures were warm at least according to Irish standards. The breeze was noticeable without overly punishing.

“They are very different golf courses, but the golf is similar,” said Harman. “You have to be able to fly your golf ball. You need to know how far everything is going. Then you cannot be frustrated.

The group with 5th 137 included Harris English (70), Harman's former teammate in Georgia; Tyrrell Hatton von England (69) and Chris Gotterup (65), who did not even prepare in front of Royal Portrush until he won the Scottish Open last week.

Also nearby is Bryson Decimbeau, who has improved by 13 shot improvements from the first round with a 65-year-old. Nevertheless, he was 11 shots behind.

McIlroy was not at its best in the opening round and was pleased to be only three back. Now he has a real mountain for climbing. But at least he still plays, in contrast to 2019 at Royal Portrush when he shot 79 and then had a great rally just to miss the cut.

“I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so I am very excited to play before these crowds in this atmosphere for two days in this atmosphere,” said Mcilroy. “I have the feeling that my game is definitely good enough to run.”

Before Scheffler started, that was to run away from so many except for a small collection of challengers. But that's golf on the left. And that is the Emerald Isle, on which the weather seems to have its own spirit.

Nevertheless, Scheffler went 10 tournaments without ending the top 10, and seems to be as discouraging as Royal Portrush.