The Open

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Former champion Shane Lowry said his Open Championship at Royal Portrush has been "hard to take" after a shooting a three-over-par 74 in his third round on Saturday to sit three over for the tournament.

The world number 18, who lifted the Claret Jug when the championship was last staged at the Northern Irish links in 2019, was assessed a two-stroke penalty for his ball moving during a practice swing after his second round on Friday.

He then returned to the course for his third round suffering from a virus.

"To be honest, I'm gutted," said the Irishman.

"I wanted to do well so badly today and this week. I put so much into this week that, yeah, it's hard to take.

"The annoying thing for me today is I didn't get to enjoy today as much as I would have liked - Saturday at The Open in your home country, I should enjoy it a lot more than I did, just because of how I felt."

Lowry, who said he "was not too keen" to discuss the penalty incident for a second time, birdied the 13th on Saturday to get back to level par for the championship but followed that with a quadruple bogey on the next hole and dropped a further shot at the 17th.

He said his illness contributed to a "lack of energy" in the closing stretch of holes.

"Honestly, every bathroom I went in and tried to throw up, I couldn't," he added.

"It's just such a bad feeling. I think lack of energy towards the end maybe did me in.

"Look, I don't want to make excuses. It is what it is. It's just really bad timing, obviously."

Jamie Dornan has been speaking to BBC Sport NI's Stephen Watson at Royal Portrush on his love of golf, being a member at the famous course and Rory McIlroy.

World number one Scottie Scheffler shoots a brilliant 64 to lead the 153rd Open Championship at the halfway stage at Royal Portrush, Northern Ireland.

Lee Westwood and Bryson DeChambeau make an impression in the best shots from day two at The Open.

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

On Thursday 156 golfers took to the tee with hopes of lifting the Claret Jug. Now, only 70 remain.

At the sharp end, Scottie Scheffler, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Brian Harman and Li Haotong made their moves up the leaderboard.

And while Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Wyndham Clark all made the final two rounds,

Here is a look at some of the big names who will not feature over the weekend in Northern Ireland.

Collin Morikawa (+7) and Cameron Smith (+8), who won in 2021 and 2022 respectively, were two high-profile casualties with disappointing weeks at seven and eight over.

Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka (+7), who works with local caddie Ricky Elliott, shot seven over as his difficult run of form in the sport's biggest events continued.

Jaoquin Niemann (+2), who has won four LIV Golf events this year, narrowly missed out.

US Ryder Cup team-mates Patrick Reed (+5) and Patrick Cantlay (+3) both missed out, as did 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen (+6) and two-time major winner Zach Johnson (+3).

The Australian duo of Adam Scott (+9) and Jason Day (+2) fell short.

Two former Open winners have also missed out in the shape of two-time champion Padraig Harrington (+9) and Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke (+6), who won in 2011.

Also missing out is Clarke's fellow countryman Tom McKibbin (+3).

Andy Gray
BBC Sport NI Journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

Northern Ireland's Tom McKibbin said he was frustrated with "silly mistakes" as he missed the cut at The Open after day two.

After an opening round of one over at Royal Portrush, McKibbin birdied the opening hole on Friday but bogeyed the eighth, 11th and 14th to move to four over.

A birdie on the 15th gave him hope of making the cut, which had fluctuated between one and two over par, but three closing pars left him on three over for the tournament.

"It's been a frustrating last two days. I've played some really nice golf," McKibbin told BBC Sport NI.

"I think it's the best I've played in the four majors I've played in. There was just a few silly mistakes."

McKibbin, 22, said he made a "silly mistake" on the eighth hole when he overshot the green and his round never really recovered from that mistake.

"It's very frustrating with the way I think I've been playing. I birdied the first and made some really nice chances, and to drop those shots that I didn't think were too poor of a shot, they were more of a mistake, that's what more frustrating than anything.

"It was a great week, the whole way through with the crowds and everything but it wasn't meant to be."

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist at Royal Portrush

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After starting his Open Championship with a dispiriting seven-over 78, Bryson DeChambeau thrust himself back into the tournament with a superb 65 on Friday.

With a nickname like 'The Scientist' and a reputation for gruelling, long-into-the-night range sessions, surely some great change enabled his resurgence in the second round?

Not according to the man himself.

"I've played the same as I did yesterday. That's links golf for you," said the 31-year-old American.

"I executed pretty much the same shots as I did yesterday. I didn't feel like I played any different. Today they just kind of went more my way."

DeChambeau conquered feared US Open venues Winged Foot and Pinehurst to win his two majors, but he struggled around Royal Portrush on Thursday.

His travails included a double bogey six at the fourth after failing to advance his ball out of thick rough.

He ended his birdie-less opening round with two bogeys and admitted he told himself he wanted "to go home".

"But I woke up this morning and I said, you know what, I can't give up," he added.

"My dad always told me never to give up, just got to keep going, and that's what I did today."

"I was proud of the way I fought back, really persevered through some emotionally difficult moments," added DeChambeau, who resisted the urge to "slam clubs and throw things".

DeChambeau, who has been a hugely popular amongst fans at Portrush this week, must wait to see if his joint-best-of-the-week 65 will be enough to make the cut.

At the time of writing, he is on the projected cut mark at one over.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI senior journalist at Royal Portrush

Image source, Getty Images

Four weeks on from the toughest loss of his career at the US Open, Tyrrell Hatton once again finds himself contending at a major.

On Friday, the Englishman carded a second-round 69 to sit five under at the halfway point of the Open at Royal Portrush.

He was, however, left frustrated after reaching six under with a birdie two on the 13th, only to cover the final five holes in one over.

"It felt like a pretty frustrating day," said the 33-year-old, who is three back of Brian Harman.

"[I] didn't hit it particularly close on many holes. I missed the green with a lob wedge into 14, which after a perfect tee shot was frustrating, and obviously ended up making bogey.

"That was a bit of a shame. But it's been a solid couple of days."

Hatton is known for reacting furiously to bad shots and missed putts, and even when it has seemed as though he has been keeping his cool, he assured the media that he is still cursing himself when required.

"I was still pretty vocal. Maybe I'm just having to do it away from the microphone," added the LIV Golf player, who finished tied sixth at Royal Portrush in 2019.

When asked if he will ever change, Hatton said he thinks "that ship has sailed",

"I'm not going to change. It's just how I am, how I play," he said.

"I've always said, as long as it's not affecting my playing partners...sure, there's been times I've probably gone too far and you comment on a putt when they're putting on the same line and then it maybe affects where they're hitting their putt.

"Stuff like that, I think that's part of what you learn as you get more experience, so I do try and avoid that kind of thing.

"But yeah, as long as I'm not affecting the other guys, then I'm not going to change."

Off the course, Hatton has had no trouble relaxing, whether it's been a bit of Netflix or taking in a quick evening round at Ballyreagh, a nine-hole par-three course just up the road from the Dunluce Links.

"It was really fun. It was a beautiful evening.

"I went and had three pints of Guinness afterwards, so that kind of made the evening a bit better."