Amid a bevy of international flags on the Genesis Scottish Open leaderboard, a pair of Americans sit towards the top.
Collin Morikawa and Sahith Theegala are 9-under par through 36 holes, three shots back of leader Ludvig Åberg, who carded a 6-under 64 for the second straight day on Friday.
Morikawa signed for a 4-under 66, while Theegala posted a 5-under 65.
“It was scrambling today,” Morikawa said of his second round.
“I felt like driver, which has been my strength all year. I lost it a little bit today. It was just a little bit out of sync, but it happens, and I was able to make some putts, make the birdies, and give myself enough chances.”
Morikawa still hit 8-of-13 fairways on Friday, but only one misfire led to a bogey. He pulled his opening tee shot well left of the fairway on the par-5 10th, which led to an opening six. He then bounced back with three birdies over his next six holes.
Meanwhile, Theegala had a slightly better day off the tee, finding the short grass on 10 occasions. But one of those three misses cost him dearly. He pushed his drive right of the fairway on the 479-yard par-4 18th—one of the most challenging holes PGA Tour pros will face all year. Theegala then hit his approach left of the green, hit his third into the bunker, and wound up making a double-bogey six. He did not make a bogey outside of that and instead made seven birdies.
“I really enjoy links golf,” Theegala said.
“Just have to plot your way around, and I feel like that’s kind of the strength of my game. I don’t really necessarily sack a lot of shots or hit the crazy shot. I just put it in the right places, but yeah, it was a really nice round today.”
Luckily, Morikawa and Theegala—and the rest of the field—have not had to deal with the damaging winds and blinding rain that the Scottish climate often brings.
“It was really eerie the last two days; it has not blown more than ten miles per hour, and it’s 65 degrees,” Theegala added.
“I’ve taken my jacket off in the first five holes of the round, which, on a full seven-day trip out here, and I can not take it off once. So been really lucky with the weather, and you know, without a little bit of weather, the golf course doesn’t show too much teeth.”
The benign conditions help explain why scores have been low so far, but that will change over the weekend. Weather in North Berwick, Scotland, calls for rain and wind on Saturday and Sunday, likely leading to higher scores and frustration while entertaining fans around the world.
But the weather also serves as a great equalizer, especially with a bunched leaderboard such as this.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
