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Winners and Losers From Second Round of British Open: The TV Broadcast Had One Major Failure

Andy Nesbitt, Tom Dierberger|
Sam Burns shot a 62 on Friday but we barely saw him on the USA Network broadcast.
Sam Burns shot a 62 on Friday but we barely saw him on the USA Network broadcast. | Oisin Keniry/Getty Images

The second round of the 2026 British Open saw a lot of low scores with two players—Lucas Herbert (who leads the tournament) and Sam Burns—tying impressive major championship history with a pair of eight-under 62s.

Bryson DeChambeau stayed red hot and made the cut at a major for the first time this year. His back-to-back birdies on 17 and 18 have him at seven-under, which is just one shot back of Herbert. He will very much be a factor over the weekend and all the talk about his strategy can now be put to rest because he has attacked a dried-out Royal Birkdale the same way he went at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2024 when he won his second U.S. Open.

UPDATE: DeChambeau was issued a two-shot penalty after his round for improving his lie during a shot from the long rough on the fifth hole. That drops him to five-under and in a tie for fifth with Sam Burns and Si Woo Kim.

Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler are both just four shots back of Herbert after a couple of nice second rounds by two players who know how to win a major.

Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from the second round.

Loser: The USA Network broadcast

All morning long, the television broadcast did a great job tracking Lucas Herbert’s attempt at history. During his final few holes of the day, every time a Herbert shot was shown it was joined by a “59 watch” graphic. That was great. However, casual viewers were stunned to learn that Sam Burns also shot a historic 62 on Friday. Burns wasn’t featured much at all before the broadcast showed him holing out from a bunker on 18 to become the seventh golfer in history to shoot a 62 at a major. Seems like a missed opportunity in the production truck. 

Winner: Bryson DeChambeau is back

DeChambeau has needed just two days to quiet the haters and now he’ll head into the weekend looking to win his third major championship. His game is looking the best it has in a while and he’s back to absolutely crushing drives and making birdies. Look at this tee shot on the par-4 ninth, where he was then able to chip it close and make a birdie.

His two-shot penalty changes things but he’s still just three shots back of Herbert and very much in contention heading into the weekend.

Winner, but slightly a loser: Lucas Herbert

Herbert was nearly perfect in the second round. He became the sixth golfer in history to shoot a 62 at a major, notching nine birdies and missing just two putts all day within 20 feet. But believe it or not, even with one of the greatest rounds in British Open history, Herbert still left a few strokes out there. With two holes to play, Herbert was in serious contention to shoot a 59 before he missed a 10-foot birdie putt on 17 and pulled his par putt on 18 left of the hole. He tapped in for a historic 62, but unless Herbert hoists the Claret Jug on Sunday, he might be wondering what could have been for a long, long time.

Winner: Tommy Fleetwood makes a move in his hometown

Fleetwood moved up the leaderboard with a three-under 67 on Friday. He got hot late, making three birdies on the back nine, including one on the difficult par-3 15th that had everyone in his hometown going nuts:

Loser: Wyndham Clark misses the cut

Clark dominated at the U.S. Open last month with a wire-to-wire win at Shinnecock but he couldn’t find any magic this week at Royal Birkdale. He made a push down the stretch with two birdies and an eagle in his final four holes but he ended up missing cut by two shots after rounds of 70 and 73.

Here’s proof that links golf is hard, even for a two-time U.S. Open champ:

Loser, but also kind of a winner: Jon Rahm was lucky he didn’t get a conduct penalty

Rahm is in contention but he’s lucky he didn’t get a conduct penalty for throwing his club in disgust after a bad tee shot on the par-3 15th hole. He was issued a warning by a rules official and avoided getting dinged for two shots, which could have cost him a chance to fight for the Claret Jug over the weekend.

Loser: Jordan Spieth’s putter 

Spieth made a move early in the his round with two birdies in his first five holes but then he gave those shots right back in the worst of ways by three-putting from three feet on the par-3 7th for a double-bogey five. Spieth then struggled the rest of the way and ended up missing the cut for the first time at a major this year. 

Loser: Mason Howell and his girlfriend’s poor cup of coffee

Howell is an 18-year-old amateur who is playing in his third major championship this year, which will certainly be a stretch in his very young life that he will never forget. He also won’t forget the time he hit his girlfriend in the hand with an errant tee shot on Friday, which led to his significant other dropping her cup of coffee. I mean, what are the odds of that happening? Howell shot a one-under 69 to finish at two-over for the tournament. 

Winner: Jesper Svensson and his near ace on a par-4

There’s nothing cooler in golf than making a hole in one. But Svensson almost took it to a whole different level on Friday as his tee shot on the driveable par-4 5th came really close to going in. He was able to make his eagle putt and went on to shoot a four-under 66. He’s at one-under for the championship and will be playing some weekend golf at Royal Birkdale.

Winner: Francesco Molinari. Remember him!? 

Molinari won the British Open in 2018 at Carnoustie and then almost won the Masters in 2019 but ever since then he has pretty much fallen off the map and has also lost his PGA Tour card. His game has looked really good over the first two days at Royal Birkdale and he goes into the weekend at four-under par. Would be wild if he was somehow able to win on Sunday, but just seeing him back in contention is pretty cool.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is the Deputy News Director at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor’s in communication from St. John’s University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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