BILLINGS — Libby's Ryggs Johnston crafted a stellar second round Friday at Royal Portrush in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and will play the weekend after making the cut at the 153rd Open Championship.
Johnston sizzled with seven birdies and finished the round at 5-under 66, which was among the best rounds of the day. He now sits in a tie for 17th at 2-under par — eight strokes off the lead and an 80-place improvement from Thursday.
Johnston finished three shots above the cut line, which was set at 1-over par. The tournament does not feature a secondary cut, meaning Johnston will play both Saturday and Sunday at The Open.
Johnston is in a nine-way tie for 17th place, which includes defending Open champion Xander Schauffele. Johnston is ahead of the likes of Rickie Fowler (1-under) and Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Shane Lowry (all even par).
In the first round on Thursday, Johnston started strong but faded down the stretch to finish with a 3-over 74 and in a tie for 97th place. But Friday was a different story.
Johnston opened his day with a birdie on the par-4 No. 1 hole, then also birdied Nos. 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 17, and otherwise had seven pars and just two bogeys. Johnston's average driving distance was 298 yards, and he hit 83.3% of greens in regulation to rank eighth among the field.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler surged into the lead in Round 2, making eight birdies to shoot a 7-under 64 — the lowest round of anyone so far at the tournament — and now is 10-under overall, one shot in front of second-place Matt Fitzpatrick and two strokes ahead of Brian Harman and Haotong Li atop the leaderboard.
Scheffler is seeking his fourth career victory in a major championship and his second of 2025 following his win at the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, N.C. He also won The Masters in both 2022 and 2024.
Johnston, meanwhile, is playing in his first major championship as the only Montanan to compete at a British Open. He earned his DP World Tour card last November and qualified for The Open by winning the ISPS Handa Australian Open in Melbourne in December.
He was an All-American golfer at Arizona State following a high school career that saw him win four individual state championships at Libby High School.
