The Open: Rory McIlroy ready to hunt the hunter after Brian Harman takes big lead at Hoylake

If Rory McIlroy is to end that Major streak and claim a fifth career Major title, he’s going to have to go hunting the hunter.

For Brian Harman – who shot a bogey-free 65 for a 10-under-par midway total in this 151st Open Championship at Hoylake – is an affirmed hunter, of deer and boar and whatever else takes his fancy.

As the 5ft 7in left-handed American put it, “I’ve been a hunter my entire life. I enjoy the strategy of it . . . we get to eat a lot of wild meat at my house, so I enjoy butchering and I do a lot of hunting.”

McIlroy’s tastes may be somewhat different but the Northern Irishman, who shot a second round 70 for a 36-holes total of 141 in tied-10th, nine shots behind Harman, didn’t rule out the possibility of playing catch-up over the weekend with the wind again set to be a factor.

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“It’s not quite out of my hands but, at the same time, if I can get to three-, four-, five-under par going into Sunday, I’ll have a really good chance. I’m more comfortable in the wind over the last few years and I feel like I can perform in all sorts of conditions. Whatever [the weather] throws at use over the next couple of days, I feel like I’ll be prepared for it,” said McIlroy of embracing the pursuit.

McIlroy and Pádraig Harrington (71 for 145) were the only two Irish players to survive the cut, with Séamus Power (75 for 146) disappointingly missing out by just one stroke.

However, Shane Lowry failed to muster a single birdie in a round of 77 for 149 where his sheer frustration was shown in breaking a club in wrapping it around the back of his neck.

Harman is seeking a breakthrough Major win and hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since capturing the 2017 Wells Fargo championship. Why has he found winning so difficult? “I’m not sure. I think about it a lot, obviously. I’m around the lead a bunch. It’s been hard to stay patient. I felt that after I won the tournament and had the really good chance at the US Open in 2017 (where he finished runner-up to Brooks Koepka) that I would probably pop a few more off, and it just hasn’t happened.

“I’ve been right there, and it just hasn’t happened. I don’t know why it hasn’t happened, but I’m not going to quit. I’m going to stick with it and just keep after it, and hopefully it’ll pop one day,” added Harman, who credited his US-based Irish coach Justin Parsons for his improved form.

[ The Open first round as it happened: Rory McIlroy battles to stay within five of the lead ]

Harrington, for one, wasn’t surprised to find Harman atop the leaderboard and as the man everyone with designs on lifting the Claret Jug as one to catch.

“He’s a very solid player who hits the ball very well tee-to-green, a consistently straight hitter. And he’s a lovely putter. He’s experienced. He’s been in this game a long time. I think you’ll find one thing about Brian Harman, and I mean this in the best possible way, I would suggest he has the perfect chip on his shoulder. He’s a great player but is ignored just because he doesn’t fit the mould, doesn’t look the part.

“I think that chip on the shoulder really drives him. I think he’s a very determined, gritty person who wants to really prove himself because, as I said, he probably doesn’t get (due credit) for how he performs, he wouldn’t get the credit. That’s the way it is,” said Harrington.

McIlroy, though, has Harman in his sights. “I don’t know him that much, but obviously I’ve played a bit with him on Tour, and I think his ball flight and sort of the way he plays the game definitely suits this style of golf . . . [to make a challenge] I think more of the same, patience, hitting fairways, hitting greens, making good decisions. If I can do that and have a good attitude towards it all, that’s what I expect of myself,” said the world number two of his strategy for the weekend.

Others too. As Jordan Spieth observed, “He’s in control now. It’s on him. I watched some of his round. He made a ton of putts. He’s chipped in. He’s done what you need to around here, hitting fairways and greens that gives you those 20-footers and if you have enough of them you’re going to start holing them.”

It sounded like Spieth, like others, is sniffing blood heading into the weekend. The hunter will be the hunted.