08:34 AM
Morikawa looking to make history
08:33 AM
Trouble for Webb Simpson at the first
Could only advance his second 30 yards or so into the fairway on the first. Must have had a filthy lie in the rough.
Morikawa has sent another iron shot into office and he will have four feet or so for birdie on the fifth.
08:24 AM
Morikawa scares the hole
Great try on the fourth, but it slipped by the right edge. Another solid par though, Morikawa is looking really good and just two behind Oosthuizen.
08:22 AM
Merritt goes close to an eagle
08:18 AM
Outstanding from Morikawa
His ball was always going to chase forward coming out of the rough from 171 yards but he judged that beautifully, landing it short of the green and letting it bound up the step to the back portion of the fourth green. 20 feet or so for birdie coming up.
08:16 AM
McIlroy grinding on the practice putting green
Four in a row have missed left of the hole. Let’s hope for better when he starts his second round proper. Molinari scrambled for par on the fourth to stay at two-under. Solid par from Morikawa at the third to stay four-under, but he has found the wispy rough left of four off the tee.
08:05 AM
Some big names coming up
07:54 AM
Bill Horschel picks up a shot
The American with the West Ham United golf bag bolts in a birdie putt at the fourth to move to one-under for the tournament. Molinari chips up well on the same hole but dragged his par putt left of the hole. Back to two-under. Just the par for Morikawa at the second after his approach came up a little shy.
07:43 AM
What a shot from Finau at the long par three third
Skips forward after landing in the middle of the green, runs up to the top shelf to within a few feet of the hole. Certain birdie to move into red figures.
Molinari left his birdie putt short at the second.
07:38 AM
Another well played hole for Molinari
Finds the second fairway and then his approach checks up pin high, 15 feet from the hole. Will have that for birdie.
Back at the first, Morikawa is off to flyer with a birdie three to move on to the first page of the leaderboard at four-under.
07:30 AM
Birdie for Molinari on the first
Cracking approach to within a few feet with a wedge. The 2018 Open champion has been in the doldrums but is now just three behind Oosthuizen at three-under.
07:27 AM
Morikawa with the ideal start
His drive at the first bounds down the left side of the fairway. He played some great stuff in the trickier afternoon conditions, and his putting looked strong which is sometimes a weak link in his game. Morikawa is ranked as a the best iron player on the PGA Tour statistically.
07:14 AM
Par at the first for Matt Fitzpatrick
He stays at one-over. Was well fancied this week after losing out in a play-off at the Scottish Open last time out.
07:12 AM
Ken on the course: Always a treasure
07:01 AM
Good start from Jazz Janewattananond
A couple of early birdies sees him move to two-under after five holes. The Thai played really well at the 2019 USPGA Championship at Bethpage Black.
06:55 AM
Tony Finau getting strated
Rough finish yesterday to fall back to level par, but his three wood off the first finds the semi-rough. He has racked up so many top 10s in majors but is yet to win one.
06:44 AM
Padraig Harrington starts his second round
The Ryder Cup captain shot a two-over 72 yesterday which included a double bogey on this first hole. In better shape today as his drive finds the fairway.
06:36 AM
Some of the groups who will be starting shortly
7.30 am — John CATLIN, Romain LANGASQUE, Aaron PIKE
7.41 am — Padraig HARRINGTON, Brad KENNEDY, Sam FORGAN
7.52 am — Tony FINAU, Billy HORSCHEL, Adam HADWIN
8.03 am — Patrick CANTLAY, Matthew FITZPATRICK, Ryan FOX
8.14 am — Francesco MOLINARI, Marc LEISHMAN, Matt WALLACE
8.25 am — Collin MORIKAWA, Corey CONNERS, Sebastian MUNOZ
8.36 am — Jason SCRIVENER, Keith MITCHELL, Sam BAIRSTOW (a)
06:34 AM
Daniel van Tonder going nicely
The world number 87 is finding fairways and greens with regularity and is two-under for the tournament. He has just split the fairway on the fourth.
Jason Day is having a horrible time of it, he has just made double bogey on the first to fall back to seven over. Day has had his injury problems and looks completely out of sorts.
06:22 AM
Pressure on the early starters to make inroads
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of day two of the 149th Open Championship from Royal St George’s.
There is a slight chill in the air in Sandwich at this very early hour, but it is expected to warm up quickly as the day progresses. Leader Louis Oosthuizen and his closest challenger Jordan Spieth are among the later starters this afternoon, so the likes of Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele have the chance to close the gap this morning.
There was a significant split in the scoring yesterday between morning and afternoon starters, with fresher greens and lighter winds yielding better scores earlier in the day. Those who teed off late on day one will hope that pattern holds so they can take advantage.
Bryson DeChambeau will tee off at 2.26 pm and is involved in a remarkable disagreement with his club manufacturer Cobra about his driver. The American said he was unhappy with the club face on his driver and that it was causing a number of errant tee shots. DeChambeau is not out of it at one-over but needs to find more fairways. Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson are well placed at two-under.
These were some of day one’s other highlights:
Far from a Bland start
Richard Bland had the honour of hitting the opening tee shot of the 149th Open Championship at 6.35am. The 48-year-old Englishman won the British Masters in May, his first European Tour title at the 478th attempt.
“The nerves definitely sort of cranked up a little bit and I was glad to hit one in the fairway,” Bland said.
Caddie upstages Casey’s fashion sense
Paul Casey’s caddie John McLaren goes by the locker room nickname ‘Johnny Long Socks’ because, you guessed it, of his preference for wearing longer, ankle length socks rather than trainer liners. At Sandwich yesterday, he was sporting a Union Jack pair.
Hero to zero
There’s a three-letter word beginning with Y (rhymes with hips) which golfers are scared to say out loud, but young American Will Zalatoris has a nasty case of them from short-range. His twitchy miss from no more than 18 inches on the 17th was difficult to watch, even more so after his heroic chip-in eagle on 12.
Rare back-to-back eagles
Brandt Snedeker came within a whisker of back-to-back eagles on his back nine. After missing out on a hole-in-one by inches on the par three 16th, Snedeker holed his second shot for eagle on the par four 17th. The shot of the day.