5 things you missed on Friday while you were sleeping

Hello golf fans. Especially those who have just woken up in America. The second round of the Open Championship has begun at Royal Birkdale. Here's what you missed this morning.

Don't let the leaderboard warn you

A common delusion golf fans (and the media!) can fall into is looking for a leaderboard of visible names at the start of a tournament. That is not true given how deep the fields are, and how long these days can be. There are so many holes to play. As of noon local time, the leading team is … Herbert, Suber, Cauley, Wallace. Not exactly the biggest names in the game.

But for those looking for a bunch of top contenders, you might have to be patient. There is a group of big hitters waiting in the wings, and one (or more) of them will charge into this group of leaders with little evidence. I'm talking about Scottie Scheffler (-2), Cameron Young (-4) and a bunch of others who just came off the front page of the board: Chris Gotterup, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Reed, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton.

If you can't match the names they're chasing, keep the faith. Hop on some errands for the next few hours and then head back to the Open for some early morning rounds. It will improve. It always is.

That said … Cut Watch is officially ON

Wyndham Clark's reign as the last major champion was expected to end this week, but it may end even sooner than he thought. The US Open winner shot a 73 in the opening round and began his second round with a series of missed shots. The cut line, as of noon local time, looks like one over or better, but it can slide up and down. Clark sits at seven over with nine holes to go.

Also important to watch: Jordan Spieth (+3, 18 to play), Hideki Matsuyama (+2, 18 to play), Joaquin Niemann (+4 thru 36), Rory McIlroy (E, nine to play), Matt Fitzpatrick (+3, nine to play)

Lucas Herbert is gone

The Australian, who plays most of his golf at LIV, shot an impressive 28 on his front nine on Friday, running atop the leaderboard. He then added more birdies on the opening 9 to move to eight under for the tournament and three out of the lead.

One thing to know: it's not like you're playing hoops from everywhere on the course. Yes, he does plenty, but he also doesn't get the kind of trouble that would stop a round in its place – which is everywhere at Royal Birkdale. He plants green peppers and plays in a non-stressful way.

Little did we think that England's best hope could come from someone far from that big board: Matt Wallace.

Wallace has been playing his hardest golf this season, bouncing between Europe and the United States and trying to keep in shape on each tour. He finished second in one event on each trip, just to hang all around.

And thanks to a strong opening 69 on Thursday, and a windless start on Friday morning, Wallace quickly became England's best golfer on the board. He heard it, too.

“That was special,” he said after his round. “And I know you're not going to believe this early in the morning, but from the 5th hole, the short one over there, man, the number of people saying, 'go ahead, Matt,' and they were pushing me and pushing me because you got the best Englishman. When was the last time an Englishman won the Open in England?”

It was 1969, when Tony Jacklin won the Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Is knowledge … important?

I've been asking myself that question every morning, as links Jackson Suber and Pierceson Coody sit near the top of the leaderboard. Shane Lowry made it clear in his comments on Thursday:

“I feel bad for guys who have never played links golf coming here. You hit 4 irons from the tee, and they go over 300 yards. Sometimes it's hard to see that mentally and visually.”

For a while there, it seemed like what Lowry had said didn't matter, as Suber spent half of Friday morning with a two-run lead. He then went on a bogey train for three holes and it felt like the links golf swing was finally catching up with him. But Suber (and Coody too) settled in and will go into the weekend at six under and with as good a result as anyone on this baked course.

Suber will continue to learn about links golf (and this course) with each passing hole, it seems. It was only last week that he was introduced to Royal Birkdale for the first time … by watching its drone videos on YouTube. If he said something worth noting on Thursday, he was explaining his approach:

“Just keep being patient and stay disciplined and know that you can get into places where a bogey is a good point and take that and move on.”