British Open 2016 Leaderboard: Latest Scores and Standings from Saturday
The 2016 British Open has gone well for American golfers but not the early favorites.
After two rounds at Royal Troon Golf Club, Phil Mickelson tops the leaderboard at 10 under par, with six other United States natives residing among the top 14. However, those top performers don't include Dustin Johnson or Jordan Spieth, two of the premier favorites entering the tournament.
Rory McIlroy and Jason Day will also need a huge weekend to catch Mickelson, whose lead shrunk after he followed an epic first round with a tame two under on Friday. In order to capture his second British Open title in four years, he must fend off Henrik Stenson and a field of competitors within arm's reach.
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With a long weekend of golf to go in Scotland, here's a look at the leaderboard:
Stenson has had seven top-five finishes at majors—including three at The Open—over his long career, but the veteran is still searching for his first victory. Following a redemptive second round Friday, he enters the weekend one stroke behind Lefty.
His last major didn't go well. At the U.S. Open, he withdrew after posting 10-over through 16 holes in the second round. Considering he missed the Wells Fargo Championship and The Players Championship cuts, Odds Shark listed his odds of capturing the Claret Jug at 28-1, though Mickelson was an even bigger long shot at 40-1.
This time around, Stenson tallied a Friday-best 65 with seven birdies and an eagle.
Per the Guardian's Ewan Murray, Stenson addressed his closing window to win a major:
"I’m 40. I’m not going to play in these tournaments for ever. I don’t have another 50 goes at them. It might be a dozen or 15 in total. So I better start putting myself in position and giving myself chances if I want to make it happen.
"We’ve got another 27 to play before it gets really interesting. So far, so good."
According to The Open's official website, he hit 71 percent of the fairways and 89 percent of his greens in regulation Friday. Sergio Garcia was a popular choice to halt his major drought, but Stenson has instead assumed the same storyline.
He still trails Mickelson by six strokes, but Charl Schwartzel vaulted up the leaderboard with a five-under round on Friday. The 31-year-old South African, who switched clubs right before The Open, started the second round with five birdies in seven holes.
I guess those new clubs will do.
He achieved his early success despite shooting into winds on a rainy day, which he later discussed with the Golf Channel's Rex Hoggard.
“We're a south, southwest wind now, which made the front nine really difficult,” Schwartzel said. “On this golf course, I feel the back nine is normally the one that's the most difficult. So I was hoping if I could play well going out, that I've got a good chance of shooting a good score.”
The intriguing sleeper woke up and made major noise. Yet he can't afford to slow down with Mickelson reclining in the driver's seat and plenty of others by his side.
A Johnson frequents the top five, but not the one most would expect. On the strength of a four-under first round, Zach Johnson could pull off another upset. While the defending champion diminished his chances for a repeat with three back-nine bogeys Friday, the 40-year-old remains in the hunt.
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, meanwhile, faces a steeper climb at two under. Per ESPN Stats & Info, nobody has made up as much ground as he needs to this weekend in 57 years:
Yet it could be worse, as the 32-year-old stayed alive Friday with three straight birdies on Nos. 15, 16 and 17. The late surge was enough to keep his dreams alive, however improbable they may be. Per the PGA Tour's official website, his scoring average jumps two strokes from Round 1 to Round 3.
At one over, Day is fighting to keep his streak of five consecutive top-10 major finishes alive, and after netting a four-over 75 on Friday, Spieth is simply playing for pride this weekend.
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