Lucas Herbert surges into Open mix at Royal Birkdale
ESPN’s Round 2 leaderboard showed Herbert one off the pace as Jackson Suber and S. Norris shared the Open lead at 5 under.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Lucas Herbert put himself right in the Friday scrap at The Open, with ESPN’s in-progress Round 2 leaderboard showing the Australian at 4 under for his round through six holes and 4 under for the championship.
That left Herbert one shot behind the displayed leaders at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, where the 2026 Open Championship continued with a $17.75 million purse listed by ESPN.
ESPN’s leaderboard showed Jackson Suber and South Africa’s S. Norris tied at 5 under. Suber was even for his second round through 12 holes, while Norris had moved 4 under on the day through 12.
Suber stays in the picture
ESPN staff reported that Suber entered Friday on top at 5 under, one shot ahead of Daniel Brown and Sungjae Im. By the in-progress leaderboard display, Brown and Im were listed at 4 under with 7:47 a.m. ET tee times.
Suber’s week also came with a quirky prep note: ESPN promoted a video segment titled “How YouTube helped Jackson Suber learn Birkdale course.” The clip was listed at 41 seconds.
Mike Wallace was part of the group at 4 under after reaching 3 under for his round through 16 holes, according to ESPN’s leaderboard. Pierceson Coody was also at 4 under, having played seven holes at 1 under on the day.
Bud Cauley joined that 4-under pack after going 2 under through six holes. Herbert’s move was the sharpest early burst among that group on the displayed board, with his 4-under start through six pulling him into the chase.
Big names still lurking
ESPN staff pointed to Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler as players close enough to pressure the leaders after Thursday, listing DeChambeau at 3 under and Scheffler at 2 under going into Friday.
On the in-progress leaderboard, DeChambeau was among a cluster at 3 under with a 10:04 a.m. ET tee time. Collin Morikawa was also shown at 3 under after going 1 under through three holes.
- Sepp Straka was listed at 3 under, 1 under through 13 holes.
- Thomas Detry, Robert MacIntyre, Francesco Molinari, Alex Smalley, Ryan Gerard and M. Daffue were also shown at 3 under with tee times still listed.
- Chris Gotterup, Shane Lowry, Alex Fitzpatrick and Cameron Young were among the players shown at 2 under.
Rory McIlroy had work to do after Thursday. ESPN staff reported he was at 2 over and looking to rebound from a difficult opening round.
With Round 2 still underway, the leaderboard remained packed: two players at 5 under, a large group close behind, and Herbert already making Friday noise before much of the field had even got going.
This story draws on original reporting from ESPN.com.