British Open 2024: 3 Instant Reactions to Friday Leaderboard Scores

Shane Lowry heads into the weekend at The Open Championship with the lead.

The Irishman has been the most consistent golfer through 36 holes at Royal Troon.

The 2019 Open champion took full advantage of his draw in the Thursday afternoon/Friday morning window to get to seven-under for the tournament.

Lowry has two shots between himself and his two closest competitors, Justin Rose and Daniel Brown.

Only seven other golfers have under-par scores for the tournament. Scottie Scheffler is one member of that group.

Scheffler only had a one-under round, but it was good enough to put him in the conversation for the Claret Jug going into Saturday.

The full leaderboard can be found here on the tournament's official website.

Shane Lowry did exactly what he needed to do on Friday morning to move into first place.

Lowry finished the opening round one shot back of unlikely leader Daniel Brown. He followed up his five-under with a two-under 69 to create a cushion at the top of the leaderboard.

Lowry has so far mirrored the same path he took to the 2019 Open title. He began that tournament one shot back after 18 holes and took the lead by the end of the second round.

Lowry and Justin Rose are the only players in the field to card two rounds in the 60s.

A bad round is always possible in the blustery conditions along the water in Scotland, but Lowry has barely flinched through 36 holes.

He is the favorite to win the Claret Jug going into the third round and it is hard to imagine him losing the lead if his play remains the same on Saturday and Sunday.

Justin Rose became Lowry's No. 1 foe for the Claret Jug on Friday.

The Englishman pulled off a near impossible task by producing an under-par round from the second wave of Friday's tee times.

As the conditions got worse, Rose's play got better and he moved into two shots of Lowry.

The 2013 U.S. Open champion rolled in four birdies, 13 pars and had just one bogey on Friday while countless others from Justin Thomas to Rory McIlroy struggled mightily with the course.

Rose is currently in line for his best Open finish since 2018, when he tied for second. He has not finished above 20th in the event since then.

A potential Rose-Lowry showdown on Sunday might not have been expected before the tournament, but it could turn into a fantastic display of how to properly navigate links-style courses from two veterans of the game.

Don't let Scottie Scheffler back into The Open.

That has to be the goal for Lowry, Rose and others who aim to pour in low scores on Saturday.

Scheffler positioned himself into a tie for fourth with a one-under 70 on Friday.

It was not the most impressive round in terms of score, but it was when compared the performance of many other top golfers.

McIlroy, Ludvig Aberg, Tommy Fleetwood, Bryson DeChambeau, Viktor Hovland and Tony Finau all missed the cut, which fell at six-over.

Scheffler produced two straight 70s to start The Open, and if can roll in a few birdies on Saturday, he could make a push to play in Sunday's final group.

The last thing Lowry, Rose or any contender wants to see is a red-hot Scheffler with the best form in the world close to them on the leaderboard come the back nine on Sunday.