---
title: "Herbert seizes the Open lead with a stunning second round"
description: "Australia's Lucas Herbert surged to the top of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale with a superb second round, overtaking the first-round leader Jackson Suber. Rory McIlroy toiled, while defending champion Scottie Scheffler kept himself within range."
category: "Sports"
category_url: https://newsparlor.com/category/sports
author: "Priya Sharma"
published: 2026-07-17T13:32:00.000Z
updated: 2026-07-17T13:32:00.000Z
canonical: https://newsparlor.com/article/open-2026-herbert-leads-second-round
tags: ["golf", "the-open", "royal-birkdale", "lucas-herbert", "major"]
---
# Herbert seizes the Open lead with a stunning second round

Australia's Lucas Herbert surged to the top of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale with a superb second round, overtaking the first-round leader Jackson Suber. Rory McIlroy toiled, while defending champion Scottie Scheffler kept himself within range.

The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale found a new leader on Friday, as Australia's Lucas Herbert produced a brilliant second round to move to the top of the leaderboard and overtake the surprise first-round pacesetter, Jackson Suber.

Herbert, who had opened with a solid but unspectacular round, [caught fire on the second day](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/49379058/open-championship-2026-second-round-sights-sounds-best-shots), carding a round in the low 60s, one of the lowest of the week, to reach eight under par and open up a two-shot lead. It was a dramatic move up the field for a player who had begun the day several strokes off the pace.

## Suber holds on, just

Suber, the American playing in his first Open, had electrified the tournament with an opening 65. He could not quite match Herbert's fireworks on Friday but held his nerve to shoot a steady round and stay firmly in contention at six under, two behind. For a links debutant, remaining near the top after 36 holes was an impressive statement in itself.

Behind the leading pair, England's Daniel Brown and South Korea's Sungjae Im were among those keeping in touch at five under, setting up a congested and unpredictable weekend on the Southport coast.

## Big names, mixed days

The marquee names endured contrasting fortunes. Scottie Scheffler, the world number one and defending champion, remained around two under, well off the lead but far from out of it, the kind of position from which he has mounted major challenges before. Bryson DeChambeau, the powerful American, was also in that group.

The most notable struggle again belonged to Rory McIlroy. Having opened with a disappointing round for which he blamed his own mistakes, he made only modest progress on Friday and trailed the leader by a distance. For a player carrying the hopes of so many, it was a chastening week, with too much ground to make up unless the weekend brings a dramatic turnaround.

## A test that keeps giving

Royal Birkdale, hosting the Open for the first time since 2017, has offered a stern but fair examination, its fairways winding between dunes and its rough punishing anything wayward. Scoring has been possible for those driving accurately and thinking clearly, as Herbert showed, but the course has given nothing away cheaply to those who stray.

With two rounds still to play, the tournament remains wide open despite Herbert's advance. A two-shot lead at the halfway stage offers comfort but no security at a championship famous for its swings of fortune, and a strong chasing pack, including in-form challengers and major winners, will fancy their chances of reeling him in over the weekend.

For Herbert, the immediate reward is a place at the summit of golf's oldest major and, with it, the pressure and the opportunity that come from leading an Open. Whether he can hold his nerve as the tournament reaches its climax on Sunday is the question that will now define his week, and, quite possibly, the destination of the Claret Jug.