Key events

42m ago Ryan Fox fires 62!
1h ago Preamble

Further details on the tee-time controversy from Ewan Murray at Birkdale.

Marco Penge took to social media to voice frustration over the late release of Saturday tee times. They surfaced near 11pm on Friday, prompting public irritation from Penge and others including Justin Thomas.
After carding a third-round 69, Penge stood firm. "It was a bit of a joke, really," the Englishman noted. "I am staying at home this week, an hour away, so not getting your tee time until 11pm is not great really. Obviously there was a load of commotion so that delayed things."
Penge believes the delay stemmed from uncertainty over whether Bryson DeChambeau would compete. While hesitant to comment on DeChambeau's rules issue, Penge added: "If I was in that position, I'd just be very careful where I'm standing and how I get into the ball and make sure I don't improve my lie."

Defending champion Scottie Scheffler has yet to locate his best form at Birkdale. This pattern has held through the majors this season, yet he still came close to surging from behind in second gear to claim both the Masters and US Open. The field will not overlook Scottie. He has lingered near the leaders all week and keeps doing so. He opens par-par, the second a fine save on 2 after dumping his approach into thick greenside rough. He chips gently out to tap-in range, despite a downhill lie and scant green. So precise. He sits at -4.

Jon Rahm briefly risks losing control after that double-bogey start. He pulls his tee shot at 2 into a native area, then pushes his approach too far left. Yet his ball receives a favorable bounce off the bank and rolls to seven feet! The putt drops, and that could shift momentum for the big man. It will surely lift his spirits. He stands at -3.

Im Sung-jae produced an extraordinary par on the par-five 14th yesterday. Attempting to reach the green ahead of a steep-faced fairway bunker from a downhill lie, he thinned his wood into the face and had to splash out sideways with his third. He then got up and down from 210 yards. Great entertainment. Should he win this championship, that footage will be replayed for years. And that remains possible, as he has turned in 31 after birdies at 2, 5 and 9. He is at -5 and well positioned.

-8: Fox (F), Herbert
-6: Suber, C Young, Gerard
-5: Im (10), Burns, DeChambeau, Kim
-4: Schauffele (F), Thomas (15), Matsuyama (15), Neergaard-Petersen (9), Reed (7), Perez (5), Lowry (4), Fleetwood (2), Scheffler (1), Molinari (1), Wallace, Cauley, Detry, MacIntyre, A Fitzpatrick

Turning to Bryson DeChambeau... after his exchange with Nick Faldo earlier in the week over his "zero clue of strategy," few expected the three-time Open champion to stay silent on Stompgate. True to form, earlier on Sky Sports, Faldo shared his view...

You cannot remove anything in your intended swing path... It was totally inadvertent but it has nothing to do with that, it has nothing to do with Bryson, but he is a golfer that has put his foot down and moved the grass... It is in the rule book... The R&A handled it beautifully... Bottom line - job done. 'Sorry mate, you've got a two-shot penalty.'... He lost the plot for a couple of minutes, the video is pretty factual.

It is the familiar tale for Rory McIlroy: he struggles to sustain momentum this week. He follows that chip-in eagle on 9 with bogey at 11. Back to -1, and a second Claret Jug remains distant. At least he owns one. Jon Rahm holds an oddly modest Open record: a pair of strong finishes in 2019 and 2023 without ever appearing likely to win. And it threatens to recur. He slices his opening drive over the bushes to the right and out of bounds, opening with a double-bogey six. His anger stays internal, yet genuine, registering eight-and-a-half out of ten on Bryson DeChambeau's patented R&A-o-meter.

Ryan Fox speaks to Sky. "The game plan was to be aggressive... I hit driver a lot... your strategy changes with the wind around here... I had a couple of interesting shots on the back nine and kinda got away with them... pretty happy with 62 in the end, that's for sure... had a lot of fun with [Xander Schauffele]... he played really well too and we kind of fed off each other... was pretty happy to make par [on 18] from that fairway trap... I haven't really put four rounds together [at the Open]... hopefully this is a sign... I'm in a pretty good place to give myself a chance so we'll see what happens!"

A word for the 2024 champion Schauffele, who posted a superb 66 today. Birdies at 5, 7, 8, 10, 14 and 17, with bogeys at 11 and 15. At -4 overall, he is likely too far back, but much depends on how the leaders perform today... and what the wind brings tomorrow. Schauffele will start relatively early, and if conditions stay similar... well, consider Ryan Fox!

Ryan Fox shoots 62!

Fox faces a 60-footer for birdie and leaves it a good four feet short. That is a solid effort given the length, yet in these tense moments it proves frustrating: he will wonder what might have been. At least it avoids real agony: one dimple short would have been far worse. He cleans up for his 62 to match the men's major record. He is pleased nonetheless and receives warm congratulations from playing partner Xander Schauffele, who has achieved this feat twice already. Fox joins the roll of honour - and he leads the clubhouse, sharing the actual lead at -8!

Branden Grace (2017 Open, Birkdale)
Rickie Fowler (2023 US Open, Valhalla)
Xander Schauffele (2023 US Open, Valhalla; 2024 PGA Championship, LA Country Club)
Shane Lowry (2024 PGA Championship, LA Country Club)
Lucas Herbert (2026 Open, Birkdale)
Sam Burns (2026 Open, Birkdale)
Ryan Fox (2026 Open, Birkdale)

Ryan Fox sends his drive at 18 into the second fairway bunker down the right. He avoids the lip, yet the face remains a concern. Still, when in form, he stays aggressive and chooses to attack, whipping a short iron onto the front-right portion of the green! That proved a bold choice... and slightly lucky, as slow-motion replays reveal his ball clipping the very top of the trap lip. A couple of dimples lower and it would have stayed in. In truth, that is remarkable fortune, because on closer look the top layer of the revetted bunker had a small nick... and that is the spot he grazed! A fraction either way and the ball would have returned to his feet. He will have a putt for a record 61, though from long range!

A note from the Guardian's golf correspondent Ewan Murray, direct from Royal Birkdale...

Bryson DeChambeau has reached Royal Birkdale, shortly after 2pm and less than 90 minutes before his tee time. This allows only a brief range session for the Open's central figure. Then again, he was striking balls out there in darkness last night so perhaps he feels extra practice is unnecessary.
Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, has appeared on Sky to state DeChambeau's penalty from yesterday evening was "clear cut." Which prompts questions over why neither Darbon nor any officials would address queries on the incident right after it occurred.

Ryan Fox keeps rolling! He zig-zags down the par-five 17th, driving into left fescue then sending his second into right rough. Yet he chips close with his third and taps in for his ninth birdie of the day! He now sits eight under for the round and the tournament. A par on the last and he will match the men's major low round of 62, which Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns posted yesterday. Either way, it is a standout display, one he could market to the later starters... especially as the wind is forecast to strengthen slightly, following the pattern from Thursday and Friday.

-8: Fox (17), Herbert
-6: Suber, C Young, Gerard
-5: Smith (7), Neergaard-Petersen (5), Burns, DeChambeau, Kim

Rory McIlroy failed to secure the fast start he discussed in post-round comments last night. Bogeys at 3 and 4 left the Masters champion looking finished for this championship. Yet he has answered in style: birdie at 5, then a chip-in from beside 9 for eagle! He drove that reachable par-four on both opening rounds, but only after missing it did he capitalize. That is golf! He is suddenly -2 and very much alive. Not with these conditions.

Regarding the golf itself, the main story this morning is Ryan Fox's performance. Temperatures have eased a touch - down near the 20C mark and cooler overnight - bringing extra moisture to the air. That has not affected the fairways, yet it has softened the greens slightly. So very low scoring remains likely today, as yesterday. And the 39-year-old Kiwi, whose prior best Open finish was a tie for 16th in 2019, is on fire. Birdies at 2, 3, 5, 6 and 8 sent him out in 29 - one off the championship record (28) set by Denis Durnian here in 1983 - and he has added further birdies at 10, 14 and 16. Just one bogey at 13, so with two holes left he is on track for 63 if he pars in. Fox is no stranger to Open surges: he already shares the record for lowest back nine, 29 at Portrush in 2019, later matched by Lee Westwood last year.

Good afternoon, patrons, and right on cue Mark Darbon, the chief executive of the R&A, joins Sky Sports to discuss that rules matter. "We have a clear process... an unfortunate set of circumstances... from a rules perspective this was really clear cut... we communicated it to Bryson... we understand there's some emotion around that... we can all empathise with it... but from a rules perspective this played out as we would hope it would."

As for the player, DeChambeau is on site, so any lingering doubt about his participation can be dismissed. We can all move forward. That topic will surely not resurface. Right?

Preamble

Welcome to Moving Day at the 154th Open Championship! After 36 holes, the top of the leaderboard stood as follows...

-8: Lucas Herbert
-7: Bryson DeChambeau
-6: Cameron Young, Ryan Gerard
-5: Sam Burns, Bryson DeChambeau, Kim Si-woo
-4: Matt Wallace, Bud Cauley, Thomas Detry, Robert MacIntyre, Alex Fitzpatrick, Francesco Molinari, Scottie Scheffler, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm

... while these (selected) big names missed the cut...

Cameron Smith, Aaron Rai, Henrik Stenson, Harris English, Tom Kim, Justin Rose, Maverick McNealy, Joaquin Niemann, Matt Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland, Jason Day, Li Haotong, Darren Clarke, Stewart Cink, Padraig Harrington, Gary Woodland, Brian Harman, David Duval and the 2017 champion Jordan Spieth

... and that produced a tee sheet that looked like this (all times BST, GB&I unless stated). It is on!

9.10 am: J McDonald, R Henley
9.20 am: Min Woo Lee, R Hisatsune
9.30 am: JL Ballester Barrio, K Higa
9.40 am: M Plunkett, N Kataoka
9.50 am: P Uihlein, B Koepka
10 am: A Potgeiter, K Bradley
10.10 am: A Noren, A Smalley
10.20 am: R Fowler, M Homa
10.30 am: R Fox, X Schauffele
10.45 am: K Reitan, M Penge
10.55 am: C Jarvis, K Kitayama
11.05 am: L Canter, S Theegala
11.15 am: M Brennan, E Chacarra
11.25 am: E Cole, MJ Daffue
11.35 am: K Kobori, N Taylor
11.45 am: J Thomas, J Matsuyama
11.55 am: B Griffin, H Du Plessis
12.10 pm: A Sullivan, P Cantlay
12.20 pm: J Bridgeman, R McIlroy
12.30 pm: J Svensson, S Norris
12.40 pm: J Parry, M Thorbjornsen