Rory McIlroy will hope his rollercoaster ride at Royal Portrush does not continue into the weekend as he clings on to hopes of an Open victory.
Mistakes mixed with brilliance saw him complete a round of 69 to sit three under par, seven shots back to leader Scottie Scheffler who conjured up a brilliant 64 to lead the standings heading into round three.
World no1 Scheffler finished on 10 under par, one clear of Matt Fitzpatrick who carded 66 to boost his hopes of becoming the first Englishman to lift the Claret Jug since Nick Faldo in 1992. The pair are last together together at 3.35pm BST.
It has not been a happy return to Portrush for Shane Lowry, who won The Open at the same course in 2019, after incurring a two-shot post-round penalty after his ball moved during a practice swing.
The Irishman was informed on the 15th hole by an R&A rules official that the incident on the par five 12th at Royal Portrush was under investigation after footage started to emerge on social media.
Lowry shot a second-successive 70 to sit two under for the tournament but was subsequently docked two strokes, leaving him one shot inside the cut line and 10 behind leader Scottie Scheffler, after being asked to look at the video evidence.
When is Rory McIlroy playing at The Open?
McIlroy will tee off at 2.30pm BST in his Open third round on the afternoon of Saturday, July 19, 2025. He will be joined by Englishman Jordan Smith.
All tee times on Saturday have been brought forward slightly in an effort to reduce the potential for disruption while an annual loyalist parade takes place the same day in Portrush. The parade is scheduled to start at 8.30 p.m. local time.
(Third round, all times BST)
9:35am: Matti Schmid, Corey Conners
9:25am: Sepp Straka, Hideki Matsuyama
9:55am: Takumi Kanaya, Adrien Saddier
9:05am: Sebastian Soderberg, Henrik Stenson
10:15am: Thomas Detry, Jacob Skov Olesen
10:25am: Nathan Kimsey, Bryson DeChambeau
10:35am: Maverick McNealy, Thriston Lawrence
10:25am: Justin Leonard, John Parry
11:00am: Andrew Novak, Sergio Garcia
11:10am: Jesper Svensson, Francesco Molinari
11:20am: Riki Kawamoto, Wyndham Clark
11:30am: Shane Lowry, Jon Rahm
11:20am: JJ Spaun, Dustin Johnson
11:50am: Phil Mickelson, Jhonattan Vegas
12:00pm: Viktor Hovland, Jordan Spieth
12:15pm: Russell Henley, Antoine Rozner
12:25pm: Romain Langasque, Daniel Berger
12:35pm: Sungjae Im, Dean Burmester
12:25pm: Matt Wallace, Akshay Bhatia
12:55pm: Jason Kokrak, Lucas Glover
1:05pm: Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Thomas
1:15pm: Aaron Rai, Rickie Fowler
1:30pm: Marc Leishman, Oliver Lindell
1:20pm: Ryggs Johnston, Xander Schauffele
1:50pm: Kristoffer Reitan, Matthew Jordan
2:00pm: Ludvig Åberg, Justin Rose
2:10pm: Harry Hall, Christiaan Bezuidenhout
2:20pm: Sam Burns, Lee Westwood
2:30pm: Jordan Smith, Rory McIlroy
2:25pm: Keegan Bradley, Nicolai Højgaard
2:55pm: Tony Finau, Chris Gotterup
3:05pm: Harris English, Robert MacIntyre
3:15pm: Tyrrell Hatton, Rasmus Højgaard
3:25pm: Haotong Li, Brian Harman
3:35pm: Matt Fitzpatrick, Scottie Scheffler
TV channel: In the UK, live coverage of The Open is provided by Sky Sports. The broadcasts begin at 9am BST on Saturday morning Sky Sports Golf and then 2pm BST on Sky Sports Main Event.
Live stream: Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the action live online via the Sky Go app. It’s also available to stream via NOW.
The prize money for The Open will be $17million (£12.2m) across the field, with the winner taking home $3.1m (£2.3m).
(33/1 bar. Odds via Betfair, subject to change).
