Smylie Kaufman suggests Shane Lowry’s two big challengers other than Scottie Scheffler at The Open

Add as preferred source on Google

Smylie Kaufman has suggested the two players other than Scottie Scheffler he can see proving to be the closest challengers to Shane Lowry ahead of the final two rounds at The Open Championship.

Shane Lowry made the most of the slightly favourable conditions on his side of the draw over the first two days at Royal Troon to take a two-shot lead into the weekend as he looks to clinch his second Open Championship.

It was remarkable how many big names missed the cut in South Ayrshire, with Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg and Tyrrell Hatton amongst those not involved at the weekend.

But there are several top stars still in contention, particularly if Lowry gets off to a slow start on Saturday. Jon Rahm believes the winner will get to double figures after his impressive second round.

Shane Lowry’s biggest challengers at The Open named

World number one Scottie Scheffler is five off the lead, while Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay are one further back. For the third day running, the good friends will tee it up together on Saturday.

And speaking on The Smylie Show about Lowry’s biggest rivals, Kaufman claimed that the three Americans may have Lowry looking over his shoulder.

“Scottie’s obviously where you want to start, but it’s hard not to look towards Xander and Patrick Cantlay, I feel like these two played really nice golf and when the conditions get half of what they are and birdies are going to be flying, not necessarily to fly, but really good shots get rewarded, and maybe not quite as much of a hang-on par fest, but hey, some of these shots that maybe are ending up 30 or 40 feet away from the hole, maybe these good shots are getting to 10 and 15 feet, you’ve got to look to Xander and Scottie and the horses in this race,” he said.

An ideal pairing

Lowry himself admitted that Scheffler will be confident that he remains in contention, and Schauffele won the PGA Championship earlier this year. Cantlay meanwhile, was almost the forgotten man at the US Open after finishing tied for third, as he finished even par for the final day alongside Rory McIlroy.

It may also suit Schauffele and Cantlay that they are playing together. The pair are extremely close, so they may be optimistic that they can create the kind of momentum to bring themselves right back into the mix ahead of Sunday.