Scottish Open 2022 leaderboard: Cameron Tringale maintains lead as Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele soar
Wind, wind and more wind have been the story for the first two days of the 2022 Scottish Open as opponents struggled to maintain their composure in difficult conditions at The Renaissance Club. After having the advantage of a brutal wave on Thursday that sent those players away in the morning receiving almost three times, the forecast was lowered on Friday as winds remained steady throughout the day.
Hoping to support his hot 9 under 61 team is frontman Cameron Tringale. Given the way The Renaissance Club played in the second round, any score in the 60s is a solid day, let alone a low 60s inning. As you can imagine, the 34-year-old retreated into the group with 2 out of 72 but maintained his lead going into the weekend in North Berwick, Scotland.
While that’s a substantial three-stroke margin, there are some more qualified contenders who can afford to get past Tringale in the final 36 holes. US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick returned to the fray with a score of 4 under 67, while Travelers Championship champion Xander Schauffele outsold the Briton by one point and registered in the round of the day as both sat. tied in fourth place with a score of 3 under.
Leader
1. Cameron Tringale (-7): There was a point in this tournament where Tringale saw his lead ball to six strokes like those of JT Poston at the John Deere Classic and Schauffele at the Travelers Championship. Under 11 in the week after birdie on par-4 11 and par 3 12 – his second and third holes of the day – Tringale eventually slipped up because his tee shot on the green was much less impressive compared to yesterday.
Making his first bogey of the week on the fifth hole of the second round, Tringale began to slip as he would go on to make four bogeys in a row on the turn before settling into the inner round.
Tringale holds the title of hardly a player on the PGA Tour with the most starts without a win. The clock north of 300 starts, one has to wonder if it hasn’t happened until now, will a trip to the winner’s circle ever happen? Given the names on the team, the hardships of the winds of the weekend and the importance of this tournament, if he really finds a way to lift the Scottish Open trophy on Sunday, Tringale is sure to win. Will definitely get it.
Other candidates
T2. Gary Woodland and Doug Pin (-4)
T4. Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele, Kurt Kitayama and Jordan Smith (-3)
T8. Joaquin Niemann, Rasmus Hojgaard, Rickie Fowler, Tyrrell Hatton and Rafa Cabrera Bello (-2)
This was a tournament in favor of those coming from behind this past weekend. Aaron Rai 8 strokes in 2020 and Min Woo Lee 6 strokes in the middle of last year. With the current situation, players like Patrick Cantlay, Justin Rose and Jordan Spieth still have a chance to win.
Still, it was nice to see Rickie Fowler play some solid golf after hitting 69 rounds in a row. 2015 Scottish Open winner – the last time the Open was at St. Andrews – Fowler’s link record continues to impress, specifically in this tournament when his results read: CUT, T6, T9, WIN, T8.
Rick Gehman and Mark Immelman recap Friday’s action at the Scottish Open. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Big names hobble into Open
At the beginning of the tournament, 14 of the top 15 players in the world participated in the Scottish Open. Just 48 hours later, only seven such competitors remained when they were chewed up and spit out by The Renaissance Club. Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland, Hideki Matsuyama, Will Zalatoris and Billy Horschel are among the players unlikely to make the trip to St. Andrews soon.
Link golf has a way of optimizing the playing field, but this is still surprising. Maybe this will benefit some people as they will go to the Old Course and get the last major championship of the season. Only time will tell.
Drinks and cars provided by Jordan Smith
The 29-year-old England international got the Scottish crowd cheering when he hit a par-3 ace on the 17th. Although his tab bar might read like tonight’s CVS receipt, he will be very pleased. glad to hear that he won not only for himself but also for his charioteer, a brand new Genesis car.
To make matters even better, Smith is definitely in contention going into the weekend at The Renaissance Club at age 3. Entering the week with five consecutive top 25 finishes, he continued to pull off some good plays and had a chance to score his first DP World Tour goal since 2017.
2022 Scotland Open odds and selection updated
Odds via Caesars Sportsbook
- Cameron Tringale: 4-1
- Matt Fitzpatrick: 9/2
- Xander Schauffele: 9/2
- Gary Woodland: 9-1
- Joaquin Niemann: 14-1
- Tyrrell Hatton: 16-1
- Jordan Smith: 18-1
- Jon Rahm: 18-1
- Patrick Cantlay: 28-1
- Doug Pin: 28-1
- Kurt Kitayama: 28-1
The Renaissance Club, as mentioned, had a way of serving those who were a bit out of place with a half-way lead. With tomorrow’s forecast reflected in the first two days, those who leave early will once again have a significant advantage over those with a late tee time. Because of this, I expect to see a lot of movement across the leaderboard and a couple of players likely to leapfrog the competition including: Justin Rose (65-1), Branden Grace (150-1) and Max. Homa (200-1). This quest becomes much more manageable if Tringale stumbles – which I doubt he will – since the second players are just below 4.
