The Open notes, Rd. 2: Hatton hot entering weekend 

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – News and notes on LIV Golf players who competed in Friday’s second round of The Open Championship at Royal Portrush.

Note: Scroll to bottom for Round 3 tee times.

RELATED: DeChambeau improves by 13 shots to make cut

HATTON ON LINKS

Despite winning three Dunhill Links Championships on the DP World Tour, Tyrrell Hatton doesn’t consider himself a links specialist. And he certainly doesn’t correlate his success on those courses in Scotland to his first two rounds this week at Royal Portrush in which he’s shot 68-69 to put himself in contention going into the weekend at The Open.

“I’d say I feel fairly comfortable on links,” the Legion XIII star said. “I feel like I can hit certain shots, which you need to do out there. But the setup at the Dunhill is very different from what we experience this week. For me, I don’t feel like you can compare the two.”

Hatton has been comfortable enough at Royal Portrush, especially on the par 3s in the second round. Of his four birdies, three came on the par 3s. The day before, he parred all four par 3s.

Overall, though, he called it a frustrating day, exemplified by his bogey at the par-4 14th. After his 358-yard drive split the fairway, his approach with a lob wedge from 114 yards missed the green right, and he couldn’t get up-and-down to save par.

“That was a bit of a shame,” Hatton said. “But it’s been a solid couple of days. I’m happy with a few parts of my game. I’d like to be in the fairway more this weekend and hitting it a bit closer. But we’ll see how it goes.”

Hatton is tied for fifth place and will have a late tee time Saturday as he chases his first major title. It’s as close as he’s ever been through 36 holes in a major. For now, he plans to relax in the most appropriate of manners here – with a Guinness.

“Three is the magic number,” he said. “If you go past three, you kind of …”

He didn’t get to finish his thought. But he certainly hopes to complete the journey to major champion this weekend.

WESTWOOD LURKING

Majesticks GC Co-Captain Lee Westwood, making his first major start in three years, enters the weekend with a chance to make some noise after his 1-under 70 on Friday moved him to 3 under and in a tie for 12th.

It was a solid round to follow up his opening 69. Not that the 52-year-old Westwood was particularly focused on backing up his good start.

“I didn’t really think about it, to be honest,” he said. “I’m just enjoying playing one of the greatest courses in the world in one of the greatest championships.”

Westwood, making his 92nd career major start and 28th Open, is calling upon all his experience this week. He walked off the course Friday leading the field in strokes gained off the tee.

“Links golf is all about adapting and just trying to handle the conditions as best you can,” he said. “… It asks a lot of questions that an experienced golf has been through before.”

LEISHMAN IN GOOD SPIRITS

Marc Leishman is normally the most affable, easy-going Australian you’ll come across. But he was not a happy camper in the aftermath of a three-putt bogey to close a long, draining opening round 73 at The Open.

He was upset and frustrated, and he couldn’t hide it as he spoke to the media Thursday evening.

On Friday, he explained why.

“I always say to my wife, if I’ve had a bad day on the course, just give me 10 minutes, and I’ll be good,” Leishman said. “I think you got me about the 8-minute mark.”

The Ripper GC veteran was doing a lot more smiling after Friday’s round, in which he shot a 3-under 68 to put himself in the mix going into the weekend at Royal Portrush. At 1 under for the tournament, he enters the weekend tied for 26th. Not since 2014 has he been closer to the lead at the Open through 36 holes.

At one point Friday, Leishman closed to within one shot of the lead, playing his first 12 holes in a bogey-free 5 under. Unlike the previous day, he avoided the bunkers that are so penal on links courses.

But at the 200-yard par-3 13th, he hit a shank – his description – off the tee, landing in native area some 70 yards from the pin. He then hit a provisional but found his first ball. Still, he couldn’t get up and down to save par. It was the first of two consecutive bogeys before he ended the round with four pars.

After the round, he spoke about that stretch coming in.

“Wanted to keep making birdies, but I knew there were some hard holes coming up,” Leishman said. “13 is actually really tough to hit that green. 14, that green runs off in every direction, and it's a tough pin on 15, then you've got 16. I knew it was a tough run of holes.

“When I did make the two bogeys in a row, it wasn't like I was walking off the 14th green fuming, angry or anything. I was obviously disappointed that I had just bogeyed two in a row, but I knew I was playing good and hoping to give myself chances going in, and I believe I did.”

He was in a good mood post-round, partly because he was done and could relax the rest of the day. Leishman was in the first group off the tee at 6:35 a.m. local time, with a wake-up call at 4 a.m. A brutally early tee time, but the reward was playing with nobody in front of him, on fresh greens and in relatively benign weather.

Shooting a 68 in the morning of a major and letting others deal with potentially worsening conditions was a much more positive post-round discussion compared to the previous day when he came up two minutes shy of completing his cooling-off period.

“Obviously, I would have liked to go a little bit lower, but we always do as golfers,” Leishman said. “Happy to be watching it on TV. I’ll probably have a pint or two of Guinness and enjoy my afternoon.”

RAINING BIRDIES FOR KOKRAK

Jason Kokrak was outside the cutline when he felt the first sprinkles of rain prior to his second shot at the par-4 15th. He hit it to 18 feet. Then the heavy stuff came down. Immediately.

“By the time I got to 15 green, I was drenched,” Kokrak said.

He rolled in the birdie putt in the pouring rain. At the par-3 16th, he used a 4-iron off the tee, having to hold it up against the wind – not really his forte, but he found the fringe and rolled in a 15-footer for another birdie. “A crazy little shot,” he said. “I think I got away with a little bit of water on the ball.”

At the par-4 17th, his approach shot finished 10 feet from the pin. His third straight birdie. And just like that, Kokrak was inside the cutline, his 1-under 70 leaving him at 1 under for the tournament and tied for 26th. A pretty salty fight in the wet conditions as he made six birdies in his last 11 holes.

“Didn’t really need the rain to come up but I guess it caused me to focus a little bit more,” said the Smash GC veteran. “… Every board everywhere had the projected cut line at +1 and I’m cruising around +3. Told myself I better get my head out of my you-know-what – and I did.”

Kokrak’s best finish in his first 23 major starts is a T14 at the 2022 Masters. His best Open result is a T19 in 2018. He now has a chance to improve on both levels.

“Glad the way I fought back today,” he said. “Glad to make the cut. We’ll see what happens this weekend.”

McKIBBIN ANNOYED

Tom McKibbin, the Northern Irishmen and a member at Royal Portrush, had high hopes entering the week but missed the cut at 3 over after his 2-over 73 on Friday.

“A little big annoyed. A little bit pissed off,” said the 22-year-old member of Legion XIII. “… Overall, I thought I played quite nicely. Just a few silly mistakes.”

MICKELSON AMONG 11 LIV GOLF PLAYERS TO MAKE CUT

Nineteen LIV Golf players were in the field when The Open Championship began on Thursday and 11 made the cut, including major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson , Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm and Henrik Stenson.

Mickelson, who won The Open in 2013 at Muirfield, sits at even par through 36 holes and is tied for 34th. The HyFlyers GCcaptain is playing in his 31st Open Championship.

Here are the LIV Golf players who made the cut and those who will miss the weekend.

TEE TIMES FOR ROUND 3