Scheffler with a 64 sets daunting target at the British Open

PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — The rain pounded Royal Portrush right when Scottie Scheffler poured in a birdie putt on his first hole Friday in the British Open. No matter. Nothing stopped the world's No. 1 player on his way to a 7-under 64 to build a one-shot lead going into the weekend. Scheffler made eight birdies on another wild afternoon of weather at Royal Portrush, and his 15-foot birdie attempt on the 18th stopped inches short for another. The result was a one-shot lead over former U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who made four straight birdies to start the back nine until he cooled on the home stretch and had to settle for a 66. The rain was heavy at times but never lasted long. The wind was breezy but never at strength that can cause fits. The scoring was lower, nearly two shots easier than the opening round. Except for a few chasers, Scheffler made it look like it wasn't enough. He was at 10-under 132 as he chases the third leg of the career Grand Slam, having won the PGA Championship by five shots in May. Brian Harman got the best of the weather — surprising sunshine — and took dead aim in his hunt for another claret jug. Harman played bogey-free for a 64 that left him only two shots behind, along with Li Haotong of China, who had a 67. Everyone else was five shots behind or more. That includes Rory McIlroy, who went around Royal Portrush in his native Northern Ireland with plenty of cheers but only a few roars. McIlroy had a 69 but lost a lot of ground because of Scheffler, Fitzpatrick and Harman. He started the second round just three shots behind. He goes into the weekend seven shots behind the top-ranked player in the world. Fitzpatrick was at his lowest point just four months ago when he changed his caddie and coach and began pulling himself up. And now he takes that into the weekend against Scheffler. "He's going to have the expectation to go out and dominate. He's an exceptional player. He's world No. 1, and we're seeing Tiger-like stuff," Fitzpatrick said. "I think the pressure is for him to win the golf tournament. For me, obviously I hope I'm going to have some more home support than him, but it's an exciting position for me to be in given where I was earlier this year." Fitzpatrick was rolling along until a pair of short putts he missed, from 5 feet for par on the 14th and from 3 feet for birdie on the 17th. Even so, he holed a 25-foot par putt on the final hole and assured him being in the last group at 9-under 133. Scheffler was sharp from the start. He hit eight of the 14 fairways — compared with three in the opening round — though his misses never left him too badly out of position. But he is seeing the breaks on smoother Portrush greens, and he looks confident as ever. None of his eight birdies were closer than 7 feet. Five of them were in the 10-foot range and then he threw in a 35-foot birdie on the sixth. His lone bogey came on a drive into deep grass on the 11th that kept him from reaching the green. The statistics led to a shrug. "Overall, I'm hitting the ball solid," Scheffler said. "The tournament is only halfway done. I got off to a good start." Harman was called the "Butcher of Hoylake" when he won the claret jug at Royal Liverpool two years ago because the British press was fascinated by the Georgia native's love for hunting. Now it's about his golf, and it was superb. Harman played bogey-free, only once having to stress for par as Royal Portrush allowed for some good scoring in weather that again did not live up to its expectation. Not that anyone was complaining. Temperatures were warm, at least by Irish standards. The breeze was noticeable without being overly punishing. "They're very different golf courses, but the golf is similar," Harman said. "You've got to be able to flight your golf ball. You've got to know how far everything's going. Then you can't get frustrated. You're going to end up in funny spots where it doesn't seem fair, and you just have to kind of outlast that stuff." The group at 5-under 137 included Harris English (70), Harman's former teammate at Georgia; Tyrrell Hatton of England (69) and Chris Gotterup (65), who wasn't even planning to be at Royal Portrush until winning the Scottish Open last week. Also still around is Bryson DeChambeau, who made a 13-shot improvement from the first round with a 65. Still, he was 11 shots behind. McIlroy wasn't at his best in the opening round and was pleased to be only three behind. Now he has a real mountain to climb. But at least he's still playing, unlike in 2019 at Royal Portrush when he shot 79 and then had a terrific rally only to miss the cut by one shot. "I didn't have this opportunity six years ago, so to play an extra two days in this atmosphere in front of these crowds, I'm very excited for that," McIlroy said. "I feel like my game's definitely good enough to make a run." That was before Scheffler began to run away from so many except a small collection of challengers. But this is links golf. And this is the Emerald Isle, where the weather seems to have a mind of its own. Still, Scheffler has gone 10 tournaments without finishing out of the top 10 and would appear to present a challenge every bit as daunting as Royal Portrush. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf