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Two days down, two to go. We’ve made it to the half-way point of the Scottish Open, which is currently being played at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick. The first two rounds are done and dusted and the cut has been made. It’s time to look at who made it through and who heads home early.
What is the cut at the Scottish Open?
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This year at the Scottish Open, the cut was set at -2. This means that any player holding a worse score than two under par after the end of play on the second day does not earn the right to feature over the weekend. There were plenty of big names in the field this week, but have the all made it through?
Cantlay joins host of big names to be cut
Patrick Cantlay, who is currently ranked as the fourth best golfer on the planet, will not feature over the weekend. Despite improvement on the second day, carding a respectable three-under-par round of 67, a poor first round that saw him card a two-over 72, prevented the American from getting to where he needed to be.
Cantlay is certainly not the only top player to have struggled on the East Lothian coast over the last couple of days. World number 23 Sungjae Im also failed to get going, shooting two underwhelming rounds of 70. Far from terrible, but not quite good enough to earn another two rounds. Joining the South Korean on the way home will be former US Open winner Justin Rose, who like Im stood at level par following the second round, two shots behind the safety line. Perhaps the biggest shock is Matthew Fitzpatrick, who despite shooting a first round of 68, failed to make it through after carding 73 on day two. The world number nine and major winner finished second in this event last year but won’t be around for the weekend this year.
Other big-name players to go out with something of whimper include multiple major winner Jordan Spieth, Francesco Molinari and Adam Scott.
Rory leading the way
Lots of stars of the game did make it through, including Rory McIlroy, who has certainly enjoyed himself over the first two days in North Berwick. The man on a mission to add a fifth major title to his cabinet in the near future came into the tournament in very solid form having hit the top ten in each of his last five events, coming oh so close at the US Open, where he finished second.
The Northern Irishman was striking the ball finely on the first day, striding up the fairways full of confidence before finally carding a hugely impressive 64. He backed it up on day two by shooting 66, and as a result, the world number three heads into the weekend as the 36-hole leader.
There are a group of players hot on the heels of the 34-year-old, with Byeon-Hun An, Tyrell Hatton and Tom Kim all sitting on -9, just one shot behind McIlroy, who needs to continue scoring well to keep himself out in front. Americans Sam Burns and Brian Harman have also enjoyed themselves and they too are not far behind at all, both sitting on -8 as we go into Saturday.
The man who seemingly always goes close no matter where he’s playing is in there with a fighting chance too. Scottie Scheffler is poised to attack at -7, while Rickie Fowler, who added to his list of PGA Tour wins by securing victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic a week ago, is once again playing well. He sits at -6.
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