RENO, Nev. – Tom Hoge topped the Barracuda Championship leaderboard with 21 points Friday when second-round play at Montreaux Golf and Country Club was suspended for the day after a long delay because of lightning and heavy rain.

Roger Sloan is the top Canadian with 12 points, good for a tie for 29th. David Hearn is tied for 38th with 10 points, while Adam Svensson is in a tie for 59th.

Hoge scored eight points in the second round, finishing with five birdies and two bogeys in the modified Stableford event that awards eight points for albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie and zero for par, and subtracts a point for bogey and three for double bogey or worse.

“I just try to get in the fairway,” Hoge said. “And there’s a lot of opportunities from there with short irons, you can get to all the par 5s, some drivable par 4s. It’s a fun golf course to play and fun format. I enjoy the week.”

Beau Hossler, John Chin and Collin Morikawa were a point back.

Play was stopped just before 2 p.m. and called off for the day a little after 5 p.m. Nearly an inch of rain fell on the course in the Sierra Nevada foothills. None of the afternoon starters were able to finish, with two groups unable to start.

Hossler had a 12-point round, Chin scored 11 points, and Morikawa seven.

“There’s plenty of birdies to be had out there,” Hossler said. “The greens are a little bit tricky, but they’re sectioned off where if you get in the appropriate section you usually have a pretty good look. My driver’s been pretty squirrelly, but I actually felt like I found something the last four or five holes, which is hopefully big for me on the weekend.”

David Lingmerth, the first-round leader after an 18-point round Thursday, bogeyed his opening hole and was at 17 points after four holes when play was suspended. Play also was delayed Thursday because of an afternoon thunderstorm.

Full scoring can be found here.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Matthew Fitzpatrick is playing at TPC Southwind for the first time in his young career, and the 24-year-old Englishman has found a course that fits him very, very well.

Fitzpatrick shot a 6-under 64 on Friday in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational to take a two-stroke lead into the weekend at the World Golf Championships event.

Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) is the lone Canadian in the field. He sits seven strokes back of Fitzpatrick at 2 under.

Fitzpatrick birdied the first four holes and finished with seven birdies and a bogey. He took the lead with his fifth birdie and added two more on the back nine to finish at 9-under 131.

“The golf course probably suits me more than most,” Fitzpatrick said. “If you miss a fairway, you don’t know how it’s going to come out of the rough so that makes it tougher. If I can just keep hitting fairways and greens, then give yourself a lot of chances. And … the greens are so pure. Hopefully, from there just keep doing what I’m doing really.”

This is the third time Fitzpatrick, who is still looking for his first tour win, has had the lead or shared the lead and second this year. He led after the third round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and finished second.

“It’s a nice place to be,” he said.

Billy Horschel (66) had a chance to catch Fitzpatrick after a birdie on his 17th hole. The 2014 FedExCup champ hit his tee shot on the par-3 eighth to 4 feet only to pull his tee shot left on No. 9 and finish with a bogey. He was tied for second with Patrick Cantlay (68), Cameron Smith (68) and first-round leader Jon Rahm (71). Shugo Imahira (69) was another stroke back.

“I had a couple bad tee shots that cost me bogeys, but other than that, doing a lot of good things,” Horschel said. “Probably could have been lower if I had made a few more putts my first nine holes on the back side, get a little bit of momentum, but 4-under par on this course any day is really good.”

Top-ranked Brooks Koepka had a 67 to match 2018 FedEx Cup champ Justin Rose (68), Bubba Watson (70), Ian Poulter (69), Webb Simpson (66), and Alex Noren (69) at 5 under.

“This golf course you kind of knew everybody was going to be jam-packed,” Koepka said.

Fitzpatrick played a season at Northwestern and won the 2013 U.S. Amateur, becoming first English champ since Harold Hilton in 1911. He turned pro in 2014 and has won five times internationally.

He tied for 12th at the U.S. Open in June and tied for 20th last week at the British Open.

On Friday, Fitzpatrick started tied for 13th at 3 under. He hit 15 of 18 greens taking advantage of his strong iron play, and the difference this time was making his putts.

“It’s something I struggled to do this year,” Fitzpatrick said. “Previous years I’ve been playing great and end of last year and majority of this year I’ve struggled a little bit. I mean, it’s hard not to putt well on these greens, they’re unbelievable. I would say they’re probably the best we play on all year bar Augusta.”

He hit his approach on the par-4 first to 8 feet for birdie. He rolled in a 26-footer on No. 2, hit his third shot on the par-5 third to 8 feet and wrapped up his birdie binge on the par-3 fourth hitting his tee shot from 174 yards to 10 feet.

Fitzpatrick had a brief share of the lead at 7 under before failing to get up and down from a green-side bunker on the par-3 eighth for his lone bogey through 36 holes. He rebounded with birdie on No. 9 after hitting his second from 137 yards to 6 feet. With Rahm turning in his second straight bogey, Fitzpatrick took the lead to himself at 7 under.

Cantlay birdied No. 8 to share the lead with Fitzpatrick who hit his approach within 7 feet on No. 12 before rolling in the putt for his sixth birdie to take the lead back to himself at 8 under. He two-putted from 36 feet for birdie and a two-stroke lead at 9 under on the par-5 16th and parred out for the lead.

After a double bogey on No. 12, Cantlay birdied two of his final three holes to stay close to Fitzpatrick. He finished his round with a 40-footer for birdie.

Divots: Fitzpatrick’s 64 is his lowest score in 56 starts on the PGA Tour. … Dustin Johnson, a two-time winner of the FedEx St. Jude Classic on this course, birdied his final two holes and is at 2 under. … Johnson also hit the water off the left edge of the par-3 11th. TPC Southwind has had more balls in the water on the PGA Tour than any other course with 5,544 balls wet between 2003 and 2018.

Full scoring can be found here.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Travelling from Northern Ireland to Tennessee has left everyone who played four rounds at the British Open fighting jet lag.

Jon Rahm’s putter helped him recover pretty quickly.

Rahm matched the lowest round of his PGA Tour career with an 8-under 62 on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Invitational, taking advantage of nearly perfect greens to open a three-stroke lead in the World Golf Championships event.

“I was pretty exhausted Monday and Tuesday, and that’s why I decided not to do much on the golf course and just make sure mentally I was going to be ready to compete,” Rahm said.

He spent about an hour on the putting green Wednesday. He didn’t step foot on the front nine, his back nine, until he made the turn, and he had five birdies on that side.

Rahm rolled in five putts of at least 16 feet for birdies in the bogey-free opening round at TPC Southwind. The Spaniard finished with a 7-footer to save par. He also opened with 62s last year in his CareerBuilder Challenge victory and in January in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.

“That’s what made it so comforting because I knew, especially with the greens being this pure, if I started a ball online I was going to have a chance,” Rahm said.

Corey Conners (67) of Listowel, Ont. was tied for 13th.

Bubba Watson, Hideki Matsuyama, Patrick Cantlay, Cameron Smith and Shugo Imahira shot 65. Henrik Stenson and Ian Poulter were among six players at 66 on a day featuring near perfect conditions with temperatures in the mid-80s lacking the humidity Memphis usually melts through in late July.

Justin Thomas, the winner of the WGC event last year in its final time at Firestone in Ohio, had a 68. Dustin Johnson, the St. Jude Classic winner on this course last year, and Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut by a stroke last week in the British Open, each shot 69.

Johnson was 3 over at the turn, and the only man in the field to win on this course – with victories in 2012 and 2018 – switched up his putting grip while over the ball on No. 1. He moved his left hand below his right and worked his way back under par with birdies on five birdies and one bogey.

“It couldn’t get any worse, so I figured I had to try something …,” Johnson said. “I hit great shots, I was always in good positions. I should have shot 3 or 4 under on the front, I shoot 3 over. It was, yeah, not very good.”

Matsuyama was the first to 5 under after a 21-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th with the island green. Then Matsuyama hit his tee shot on the par-4 12th left of the cart path and two-putted for bogey.

That’s when Rahm, a three-time winner at the age of 24, got going. Even though he had only played nine practice holes Wednesday, Rahm had very little trouble on the 7,237-yard course.

The Spaniard who played at Arizona State rolled in an 18-footer on the 18th, then made the turn with back-to-back putts of 18 feet for three consecutive birdies. He hit his tee shot on the par-4 sixth into the weeds left of the fairway and hit his second 110 yards to 2 feet to go to 6 under.

His putter came through again with a 16-footer on No. 7, then he got his eighth birdie of the round with a yet another long putt – just shy of 16 feet on the par-3 eight. He saved par with a 7-footer on his final hole.

“I tried to put a stress or a little emphasis on being rested, and it paid off today,” Rahm said. “Obviously, I have three more days to go and hopefully the battery lasts.”

This is the best round yet at a World Golf Championships event for Rahm, who won his third PGA Tour title earlier this year teaming with Ryan Palmer at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans. He also tied for third at the U.S. Open in June and tied for 11th last week at the British Open. Rahm tied for 17th in this event last year in Ohio.

Divots: Jordan Spieth was a stroke off the lead at 4 under through 11, and he finished with birdies on two of his final three holes. But he also had a pair of triple bogeys after hitting tee shots into the water on the 12th and 15th. He finished with a 70.

Full scoring can be found here.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – From President Donald Trump’s putting advice to playing partner Kelly Kraft’s two late bogeys, Jim Herman got the help he needed to win the Barbasol Championship on Sunday for his second PGA Tour title.

He executed when he had to, too.

“Really proud of how I can step up on that 18th tee when everything’s on the line and hit the fairway and hit the green and get out of there,” Herman said.

Trump’s regular golf partner while working as an assistant professional at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey, Herman changed to a conventional putting grip and clubhead at the president’s suggestion following a recent round.

Encouraged by Trump more than a decade ago to pursue a playing career, Herman won the 2016 Shell Houston Open for his lone tour title – a victory that also followed a friendly round with Trump.

“I think I need to see him again soon,” the 41-year-old Herman said on the 18th green after his winning tap-in par. “He motivates me and puts me in a good spot.”

Herman finished with a 2-under 70 at Keene Trace in the round interrupted for over three hours because of a thunderstorm with the leaders on the seventh pole. Herman’s putting cooled off after sizzling in opening rounds of 65, 65 and 62.

“Today was just hanging on,” Herman said. “Kelly and I couldn’t find what we had on Saturday…. I was just able to hang on. Kelly played great obviously all week, but I came out on top.”

A shot ahead with three to play, Kraft bogeyed the par-3 16th and par-4 17th. He followed a third-round 61 with a 70 to finish a shot back and squander a chance for his first tour victory.

“I just didn’t have my best stuff today, but I had it going there – made a couple birdies, 14, 15,” Kraft said. “I just gave it to him coming down the stretch, that’s basically all there is to it.”

Herman parred the last three holes to finish at a tournament-record 26-under 262.

“Obviously, with one hole (left) and a one-shot lead, I’ve been in that scenario before, just had to hit a good drive,” Herman said. “You have to step up and give yourself a look at birdie just in case Kelly was going to have a look as well.”

Herman earned a two-year tour exemption and a spot in the PGA Championship, but not in the Masters. He played the last two weeks on past champion status and thought he was headed down to the Korn Ferry Tour.

“My future on tour was not looking too bright coming off a lot of cuts,” Herman said. “I didn’t feel like I was playing poorly, but just putting, short game was not there. Driving, irons has always been there for me, but this week found the touch and here we are.”

The former University of Cincinnati won close to home, giving many family members and friends a chance to watch.

“I’ve never really had a problem with Kentucky, but they beat us in basketball a bunch,” Herman said. “It’s great to win here so close to home. Winning in Houston, didn’t have many people around.”

He was surprised to see wife Caroline and children Abigail and Andrew during the rain delay.

“I’m sitting there with the rain delay and my wife shows up,” Herman said. “We spend most of the summer with her mom and dad in Philadelphia and they drove over this morning. They left at, I don’t know, 4 this morning, so they were confident on what I was doing. …. Didn’t want to waste the opportunity for them.”

He was looking forward to hearing from his golf buddy in the White House.

“I’m sure I’ll be receiving some kind of message,” Herman said. “That was very unexpected to hear from him directly on Friday night. I got a phone call from him wishing me on for the weekend and congratulating me on my first two rounds. It’s pretty amazing I’ve had this relationship with him. I’m very fortunate I get to play a little golf with him.”

Sepp Straka of Austria was a career-best third at 23 under after a 66.

Matt Jones (63) and Austin Cook (70) followed at 22 under. Cook had a tour-record five birdies in the week. There were 114 eagles during the event, the most in a single-course tournament since the tour began tracking the statistic in 1990.

Lexington native Josh Teater tied for sixth – his best finish since 2013 – at 21 under after a 68.

Full scoring can be found here.

PORTRUSH, Ireland – Shane Lowry made the 68 years between British Opens in Northern Ireland worth the wait.

The silver claret jug is staying on the Emerald Isle.

Lowry, the 32-year-old Irishman with stout nerves and a soft touch around the greens, endured the worst weather of the week and the Sunday pressure of a sellout crowd cheering him along to win the British Open by six shots at Royal Portrush.

Even as the rain stopped, the tears began flowing.

“I can’t believe this is me standing here,” Lowry said as he cradled golf’s oldest trophy. “I can’t believe this is mine.”

It was never really in doubt.

Lowry closed with a 1-over 72, the first time since 1996 the Open champion was over par in the final round, and it was no less impressive. More difficult than the rain was wind strong enough to break an umbrella. Lowry began making bogeys in the middle of the round without losing ground. No one from the last 12 groups broke par.

And no one got closer than three shots all day of Lowry, who finished at 15-under 269.

Thousands of fans who filled these links off the North Atlantic began to celebrate when Lowry, after his fourth bogey in seven holes, rolled in an 8-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole to stretch his lead to six with three holes to play.

Lowry’s smile got wider with every hole coming in.

When his approach to the 18th was just on the fringe, he stretched out his arms, hugging caddie Bo Martin. The loudest cheer of a raucous week was for a tap-in par that made Lowry a major champion.

“He’s done brilliantly,” Lee Westwood said after grinding out a 73 to tie for fourth. “All the chasers would have wanted tough conditions and he’s clearly played brilliantly to be on the score he has, under the pressure he’s under.”

Tommy Fleetwood had to settle for his second runner-up finish in a major. He missed a 10-foot birdie putt on the opening hole that would have cut the deficit to two, and he missed a 5-footer for par on the third hole. His hopes ended with a double bogey from the bunker and the rough, and he closed with a 74.

Tony Finau shot 71 to finish alone in third, though he was never closer than seven shots. Brooks Koepka, going for his fourth major in the last seven, began the final round seven shots behind and opened with four straight bogeys. He shot 74 and tied for fourth.

Royal Portrush last hosted the British Open in 1951, the only time it had been outside Scotland and England. It pinned hopes at the start of the week on Rory McIlroy, who missed the cut by one shot. It celebrated Darren Clarke hitting the first tee shot Thursday. The other Ulstersman, Portrush native Graeme McDowell, basked in the loudest cheers he has heard this side of the Ryder Cup when he walked up the 18th green on Sunday.

And then along came Lowry, who teamed with McIlroy to bring Irish golf a European Amateur title in 2007, and who won the Irish Open as an amateur 10 years ago. He joins Padraig Harrington as Irishmen to win majors, while McIlroy, McDowell, Clarke and Fred Daly are major champions from Northern Ireland.

“Everyone knows we’re all one country when it comes to golf,” Lowry said.

It was one big group hug when it ended, starting with his wife and daughter, and his parents. Harrington and McDowell were among those waiting behind the 18th green to share in the celebration, along with Koepka and his caddie, Ricky Elliott, once a promising amateur who grew up at Royal Portrush.

“I didn’t feel great out there. It was probably the most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt on a golf course,” Lowry said. “You’re out there trying to win an Open in your home country, and it’s just incredibly difficult.”

It showed early when Lowry pulled his tee shot into the rough, hit into a deep bunker well short of the green and had to make an 8-foot putt just to escape with bogey. The wind was picking up and it was relentless for so much of the day. Lowry made his move on the more forgiving start, with three birdies in a four-hole stretch through the par-5 seventh that boosted his lead to six.

Everyone except Fleetwood fell back.

J.B. Holmes, who shared the 36-hole lead with Lowry until falling back Saturday, really went the wrong direction. He hit his first tee shot out-of-bounds. And it only got worse. He made one birdie and shot 87.

Lowry’s lead was four shots when he saved par from a bunker left of the par-3 13th. Even on his bogey at the hole, he added to his lead when Fleetwood hit a poor shot from the fairway bunker into the rough, couldn’t get to the green and three-putted for a double bogey.

“I never really got close enough, and Shane played great,” Fleetwood said. “The conditions were horrendous. It was Shane’s time, Shane’s tournament.”

Lowry shared it with his family who paved the way, the players who inspired him. And after he was introduced as “champion golfer of the year,” he shared it with thousands of people he didn’t even know, all of them crammed along the hillocks and swales, along the edge of the ocean, and who sat in the horseshoe-shaped grandstands under umbrellas waiting for the Irishman to arrive.

Holding up the claret jug, Lowry said to them, “This one’s for you.”

Full results can be found here.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – Helped by President Donald Trump’s putting advice, Jim Herman had two eagles in a 10-under 62 to maintain a one-stroke lead Saturday in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.

Ben Silverman is the low Canadian in the field at 13 under, good for a tie for 14th.

Trump’s regular golf partner while working as an assistant professional at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey, Herman changed to a conventional putting grip and clubhead at the president’s suggestion following a recent round.

“He gave me a good talking to and told me to use a different style if it’s not working,” Herman said Friday after shooting his second straight 65 to top the leaderboard. “Some great advice, so I appreciate it.”

On Saturday, Herman made an 11-foot eagle putt on the par-5 eighth and a 10-footer on the par-5 15th. He also had six birdies to get to 24-under 192 at rain-softened Keene Trace.

Encouraged by Trump to pursue a playing career, the 41-year-old Herman won the 2016 Shell Houston Open for his lone tour title – a victory that followed a friendly round with Trump.

Kelly Kraft was second after a 61. He also eagled the 15th, holing a 65-footer.

Austin Cook (63) and Bill Haas (65) were four strokes back at 20 under.

David Toms, two shots back after a second-round 64, had a 73 to drop into a tie for 32nd at 11 under. The 52-year-old Toms is making his third PGA Tour start of the season.

The winner will receive a spot in the PGA Championship, but not in the Masters.

Full scoring can be found here.

PORTRUSH, Ireland – The cheers grew louder and Shane Lowry kept getting better Saturday in the British Open.

He made two straight birdies around the turn at Royal Portrush to break out of a four-way tie for the lead. The Irishman made three straight birdies toward the end of the third round, each shot better than the previous one. He walked off the Dunluce Links with an 8-under 63, the 54-hole record at the British Open and a four-shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood.

The first British Open in Northern Ireland since 1951 no longer has favourite son Rory McIlroy.

Lowry – teammates with McIlroy for Irish golf when they won the European Amateur Championship in 2007 – filled the void just fine.

He didn’t mind the lack of attention showered on the trio of Ulstermen – McIlroy, Graeme McDowell and Darren Clarke – at the start of the week as Northern Ireland celebrated the return of golf’s oldest championship.

“They guys are from here. I grew up four hours away,” Lowry said. “I felt like I could come here and come under the radar. I’m not quite under the radar anymore. I didn’t feel like a forgotten Irishman. But hopefully, I’m the one they’re talking about tomorrow evening.”

He was at 13-under 197, breaking by one the 54-hole record held by Tom Lehman at Royal Lytham & St. Annes in 1996.

Adam Hadwin (72) of Abbotsford, B.C., was tied for 54th at 2-over par.

Low scoring was helped by a day that ended in relative calm, perhaps ahead of the storm. The forecast for Sunday is so nasty that the R&A moved up the tee times by one hour in a bid to avoid the worst of heavy rain and gusts expected to top 35 mph.

There’s also the chance of an internal storm brewing in Lowry.

This is the second time he has had a four-shot lead going into the final round of the major. The other time was in the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont. Lowry closed with a 76 as Dustin Johnson rallied for his only major. The pressure figures to be even greater this time around as he goes for a silver claret jug on the Emerald Isle.

Fleetwood did his part with a bogey-free 66, and he lost ground. He at least got into the final group as he goes for his first major.

“You have to look at it realistically,” he said. “I had a great day today. I had one of the best rounds of the day and I was bogey-free. Shane just played great and I’m four back. But that’s it. I’m just happy with how I played.”

J.B. Holmes, who started the third round tied with Lowry atop the leaderboard, tried to stay with him until he dropped two straight shots in the middle of the back nine. A birdie on the 18th gave him a 69, leaving him six back.

Still on the fringe of contention was a familiar face in the majors – Brooks Koepka. He couldn’t get enough putts to fall for the third straight day and still managed a 67, leaving him seven shots back.

“I’ve hit it as good as I could possibly imagine. I putted the worst in the entire field,” Koepka said. “It’s been really bad. Very frustrating. Disappointed. But thankfully, it’s going to blow tomorrow to have any sort of chance. I need to figure out the putter.”

Justin Rose had a 68 and joined Koepka at 9-under 204, figuring that just enough to at least stay in the conversation.

Behind him, Lowry kept widening the gap. The pin was back right on the par-3 16th known as “Calamity Corner” because it drops off some 50 feet right of the green. He sent that tee shot onto the green and right at the flag until it settled about 10 feet away.

From the light rough to the left of the fairway on the 17th, he hit a perfect chip-and-run to 3 feet for his final birdie. Holmes drove down the hill short of the green, close enough to use putter. He ran it about 8 feet by, and when it caught the lip and spun away, Holmes dropped the putter in disbelief.

Some of that surely was the frustration of seeing Lowry getting farther and farther away from him.

Lowry can’t think of a better day he’s ever had on the golf course. His 63 was one short of the major championship record that Branden Grace set at Royal Birkdale in 2017. The support was more than he could have imagined.

“Every time I had a putt today, I wanted to hole it so I could hear that roar,” Lowry said.

Now he has 18 holes left to make it through tough weather and Sunday pressure with the hopes of an island following him along.

Full scoring can be found here.

PORTRUSH, Ireland – Everyone in the massive grandstand rose to cheer and celebrate a bold performance by Rory McIlroy, who longed for such support and affection on his walk toward his final hole at Royal Portrush in the British Open.

Except this was Friday.

And now McIlroy can only watch on the weekend as one of his best friends, Shane Lowry of Ireland, goes after the claret jug. Lowry birdied four of his opening five holes on his way to a 4-under 67 and shared the 36-hole lead with J.B. Holmes, who had a 68.

Lee Westwood and Tommy Fleetwood were one shot behind. Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth were three back.

That can wait.

This day was all about McIlroy, who kept the sellout crowd on edge as he tried to make the cut after opening with a 79. The roars had the intensity of a final round as McIlroy ran off five birdies in seven holes to brighten a gloomy sky over the North Atlantic. Needing one last birdie, his approach took a wrong turn along the humps left of the 18th green.

He made par for a 65.

“It’s a moment I envisaged for the last few years,” McIlroy said. “It just happened two days early.”

He was disappointed. He was proud of his play. Mostly, though, he said he was “full of gratitude toward every single one of the people that followed me to the very end and was willing me on.”

“As much as I came here at the start of the week saying I wanted to do it for me, by the end of the round there today I was doing it just as much for them,” he said.

Adam Hadwin (69) of Abbotsford, B.C., was tied for 58th at 1-over par. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Austin Connelly, an American-Canadian dual citizen, missed the cut.

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson won’t be around, either. It was the first time in 77 majors they have played as professionals that both missed the cut in the same major. Darren Clarke, who honed his game on the Dunluce Links as a junior and now calls Portrush home, missed the cut in a most cruel fashion with a triple bogey on his final hole.

And now the first British Open in Northern Ireland since 1951 moves on without them, still with the promise of a great show.

Lowry was so nervous he was shaking on the tee when the tournament began Thursday, swept up in the emotion of an Open on the Emerald Isle, and on a course he knows. He gave fans plenty to cheer when he opened his second round with three straight birdies, added a birdie on the fifth and holed a 40-foot birdie putt on No. 10 to reach 10 under, making him the only player this week to reach double figures under par. The cheers were as loud as he has heard.

“Just incredible,” Lowry said. “You can’t but smile, but can’t but laugh how it is. There’s no point trying to shy away from it. It’s an incredible feeling getting applauded on every green, every tee box. I’m out there giving my best, trying to do my best for everyone.”

He three-putted the 14th, saved par on the next three holes with his deft touch around the greens, and closed with a bogey to fall back into a tie with Holmes, who played earlier in the day and was the first to post at 8-under 134.

Holmes won at Riviera earlier this year, and then failed to make the cut in eight of his next 12 tournaments as he battled a two-way miss off the tee and felt so bad that he never thought he’d recover. But he did enough in Detroit three weeks ago to regain some confidence, and he has been in a groove at Portrush.

“You can have that great round and that day where everything goes right. But it’s nice to get two rounds in a row,” Holmes said. “It shows a little consistency. And two days in a row I’ve hit the ball really well and putted well.”

Fleetwood and Westwood, two Englishmen at different stages in their careers, each had a 67 and will play in the group ahead of Lowry and Holmes. Westwood is 46 and can make a case as the best active player without a major considering his status – a former No. 1 in the world and on the European Tour – and the number of near misses in the majors, such as Muirfield and Turnberry at the Open, Torrey Pines in the U.S. Open and Augusta National when Mickelson out played him in 2010.

Is it too late? Westwood wasn’t willing to look that far ahead.

“There’s too much ground to cover before Sunday night,” Westwood said. “There’s a long way to go in this tournament. I’ve never felt under that much pressure, to be honest. You lads write about it. I’ve always gone out and done my best. If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”

The experience of winning majors was behind them.

Justin Rose had a 67 and was two shots behind, along with Cameron Smith of Australia and Justin Harding of South Africa. Another shot back was a group that included Koepka, who has won three of the last six majors. He was in a tie for eighth, the 16th time in his last 17 rounds at the majors he has ended a round in the top 10.

Koepka wasn’t happy with much about his 2-under 69, calling it “a little bit disappointing,” perhaps because he played in dry weather and only a mild wind.

“But at the same time, I’m close enough where I play a good weekend, I’ll be in good shape,” he said.

Spieth hasn’t quite figured out how to get the ball in play more often – too many bunkers on Thursday, too much high grass on Friday. But that putter is not a problem, and it carried him to a collection of mid-range birdie and par putts for a 67.

“I’m in contention. I feel good,” Spieth said, winless since his Open title at Royal Birkdale two years ago. “I feel like if I can continue to improve each day, hit the ball better tomorrow than I did today, and better on Sunday than Saturday, then I should have a chance with how I feel on and around the greens.”

Graeme McDowell, born and raised in Portrush, played well enough to make the weekend. He finished with four straight pars for a 70 to make the cut on the number at 1-over 143, and felt the pressure of sticking around for the home crowd.

Woods, meanwhile, began this major championship season as the Masters champion, ended it as a mystery. He missed the cut in two of the next three majors, and never seemed fully fit or engaged at the British Open. He was 3 under for his round through 11 holes with hopes of making it to the weekend, but he had no more birdies and finished with two bogeys for a 70 to miss by five shots.

“I’m going to have my hot weeks. I’m going to be there in contention with a chance to win, and I will win tournaments,” Woods said, facing the reality of a 43-year-old who has gone through eight surgeries on his knee and back. “But there are times when I’m just not going to be there.”

Full scoring can be found here.

NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. – Jim Herman shot his second straight 7-under 65 on Friday to take the second-round lead in the PGA Tour’s Barbasol Championship.

President Donald Trump’s regular golf partner while working as an assistant professional at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey, Herman had a one-stroke lead over Bill Haas at rain-softened Keene Trace.

Encouraged by Trump to pursue a playing career, Herman won the 2016 Shell Houston Open for his lone tour title.

Haas followed his opening 65 with a 66. He made a 45-foot eagle putt on the par-5 eighth, his 17th hole.

David Toms was two strokes back at 12 under after a 64. The 52-year-old Toms made a 13-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fifth, his 14th hole of the day. D.J. Trahan, Kelly Kraft and Kramer Hickok also were 12 under, each shooting 67.

Jose de Jesus Rodriguez (65), Austin Cook (66), Sebastian Munoz (68) and Wes Roach (69) were 11 under.

Tom Lovelady played the first six holes on the back nine in 7 under, capped by a 10-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th. He bogeyed the par-3 16th and parred the last two for a 65 to top the group at 10 under.

J.T. Poston, the first-round leader after a 62, had a 73 to drop into a tie for 18th at 9 under. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., a stroke behind Poston after an opening 63, also was 9 under after a 72.

Ben Silverman (68) of Thornhill, Ont., and David Hearn (68) of Brantford, Ont., were tied for 44th at 6 under. Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., and Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., missed the cut.

John Daly missed the cut with rounds of 71 and 72. Fighting osteoarthritis in his right knee, the 53-year-old Daly was playing his first PGA Tour event since he was approved for a cart last fall. Denied a cart by the R&A for the British Open, he has been approved for a cart at PGA Tour events until the end of the year.

The winner will receive a spot in the PGA Championship, but not in the Masters.

Full scoring can be found here.

PORTRUSH, Ireland – The strangest weather J.B. Holmes ever experienced was at Royal Portrush.

Just not on Thursday in the British Open.

Holmes, who grew up in a Kentucky town so small that he made the high school golf team when he was in third grade, dropped a mild surprise after he shot 5-under 66 for a one-shot lead that his first experience in links golf was at Royal Portrush.

“The first hole we had short sleeves on,” he said. “The clouds came up, and the next hole it was raining so hard we couldn’t see. People were losing umbrellas that were blowing away. Three holes later, we were taking all our rain gear off and we were hot again.”

Holmes says University of Kentucky supporters arranged for a non-competition golf trip once every four years, and this one took place in about 2005. They started at Royal Portrush, went to Royal County Down and moved their way about Ireland.

But he loved the style of play. The real adjustment was by the caddies who saw the burly kid smash driver.

“At the time, most of the caddies we had weren’t used to somebody hitting 315 or 320, so I got some bad lines,” Holmes said. “I think when I was playing here, I hit five or six shots exactly where they told me, and I lost the ball.”

He only remembered the opening holes when he returned this week – Nos. 7 and 8 are new for this Open – especially the 374-yard fifth hole.

“The caddie told me to hit 3-iron over the stone,” Holmes said. “I said, ‘Why don’t we hit it at the green?’ He says, ‘Nobody hits it at the green.’ I hit 3-iron through the fairway and said I’m going to hit driver. And I actually hit it up on the green.

“First taste of it was a lot of fun,” he said. “It was unique.”

Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) is the low Canadian after round one, sitting in a tie for 54th at 1 over.

TURNER’S TURNAROUND

Few hung around to see the end of the best round of Ashton Turner’s remarkable career. After all, this was the last group of the day at the British Open and it was after 9 p.m. at Royal Portrush.

Turner’s parents were there, though, willing their boy on. They’ve been doing it for 20 years.

When he was 1, Turner broke his skull when he fell into a fish tank. It was discovered he had a rare form of cerebral palsy that causes an interruption of muscle control in the legs and arms.

Warned that their son might never walk again, Turner’s parents looked if there was a sport that could help him with his co-ordination. There was – golf.

Twenty years later, he was shooting a 2-under 69 to be tied for 16th at Portrush.

This is the Englishman’s second straight year at the British Open. He struggled in his debut at Carnoustie, with his back story putting him in the limelight.

“Not making excuses for last year,” Turner said, “it was hectic but I didn’t play great and didn’t prepare as well as I could. This year, it’s been great to just properly focus down to business.”

WEATHER REPORT

The sun came out, and the clouds rolled back in. The wind blew and rain came and went, sometimes so quickly that players didn’t have a chance to get under an umbrella in time.

If you didn’t like the weather Thursday at Royal Portrush, all you had to do was wait five minutes for it to change.

“The first nine holes I took on and put off my rain gear probably at least nine times,” Matt Kuchar said. “It went from hot and cold and wet and dry. I had it all out there today.”

The British Open, of course, is known for weather. Sometimes wind is the only defence for links courses sitting on the edge of the sea.

At Royal Portrush, though, Mother Nature seemingly couldn’t decide what to do.

“Felt like three or four seasons out there,” Justin Rose said. “The jacket was on and off. There was enough wind to keep it tricky but also not enough. Whatever it was, today was the perfect amount of wind on a links course.”

The wind made it tricky for players, and playing in the rain always adds another layer of difficulty. That didn’t stop J.B. Holmes from shooting a 66 with a large group of players just a few strokes behind, but it may limit how low the eventual winner goes if conditions remain the same.

“If we get the same periods of sun, couple of squalls, same strength of wind, I’d snap your arm off if anyone got to double digits (under par),” Paul Casey said.

Holmes said he doesn’t worry about conditions, and the less he thinks about them the better he plays.

“Every time you play in an Open you’re going to have unique conditions where it’s going to be windy and more than likely rainy,” Holmes said. “You just have to accept those conditions and the more you can do that and just try to play one shot at a time, that’s really kind of the secret.”

STRONG DEBUT

Two good tournaments got Bob MacIntyre into the British Open. He made his debut with one round he won’t soon forget.

MacIntyre was runner-up in two straight starts in May on the European Tour, in Denmark and England, and that helped propel him into the top 20 in the Race of Dubai, one of the categories for Open exemptions.

He started birdie-birdie at Royal Portrush. He made eagle on the par-4 fifth by driving the green. He was tied for the lead playing the 18th, until a bogey by missing the green sent him to a 68. And yes, the 22-year-old from Scotland noticed the leaderboards.

“I’m watching it every moment,” MacIntyre said, adding that when he made eagle on No. 5, he turned to his caddie and said, “We’re leading the Open.”

MacIntyre has one victory as a pro at the Sahara Kuwait Golf Championship on the developmental MENA Tour (Middle Eagle North Africa). This is his first full year on the European Tour, and he’s making the most of it.

He made his debut at the Scottish Open last week and felt the nerves. That helped in the British Open, his first major.

“Last week prepared me for this week,” he said. “Everything that’s happened just now has prepared me for the next thing. There’s still more things to see and prepare for. And I just have to take that as it comes.”

Full scoring can be found here.