HOYLAKE, England — It’s a silly game, isn’t?
If you had Brian Harman running away with the Claret Jug and four top-20-ranked pros heading home on Friday, well, congratulations.
Royal Liverpool is living up to the hype as a tough, old-school links layout that has stood the test of time. Defending champion Cameron Smith closed with an eagle to jump to 2-over 144 and move to the right side of the cutline — which came at 3-over 145 — and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler needed to produce a sublime bunker shot at 18 to make birdie and make the cut on the number.
Half the fun is over, but half the fun is still to come. The bad weather, which is expected over the weekend, should make whoever is destined to be the Champion Golfer of the Year to have earned the moniker in spades.
Open Championship 2023: Leaderboard, tee times, hole-by-hole
The field has been trimmed to the top 70 and ties, with 76 players advancing to the weekend and within 13 strokes of the lead. Let’s take a closer look at some of the notables who were sent packing from the 151st British Open.