⛳ Quick Update: The Open

Good Evening. Welcome to a special Friday evening / Saturday Morning edition of Shanks.

Here's what we've got for ya today:

• Quick Update: The Open

• JT Might Not Make Ryder Cup

• Golf Data: The Open

• Golf Shots Heard Round The Open

• Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

Quick Update: The Open

Round 1

Royal Liverpool is tricky and these bunkers are punitive. Avoid at all costs.

One person who navigated the first round well? Christo Lamprecht, the amateur out of Georgia Tech. He shot 5-under par and ended the day tied for the lead with Tommy Fleetwood and Emilio Grillo.

Speaking of Tommy Fleetwood, he’s clearly the hometown favorite, and the crowds were behind him all day.

We should mention that Christo Lamprecht is 6’8 and looks like the Slenderman out there, but he can absolutely smash it. Hopefully his driver doesn’t get out of whack in the second round or anything.

Round 2

Brian Harman: The big man absolutely SNAPPED today, going 6-under. He finished the second round with a pretty cozy five shot lead over Tommy Fleetwood. Will we see shades of Jean Van De Velde?

Tommy Fleetwood: The fan favorite played his way into the final pairing with Brian Harman. Would be incredible to see him win this thing.

Christo Lamprecht: The Amateurs driver got really out of whack to start his second round, which he played +8 and and just barely made the cut at +3.

Tyrell Hatton: The peoples golfer continues to be an absolute content machine. He went OB twice off of the 18th tee, then proceeds to mimic shooting the internal OB. I feel inspired to make a t-shirt that says “Tyrell Hatton is the peoples golfer”. What a treat he is.

Sepp Straka: The big man had six birdies in his final seven holes. He sits in solo 3rd at -4.

Min Woo Lee: Our longshot pick from Wednesday is sitting pretty and T4 at -3. He could still win this thing if things get a little wild out there.

Jordan Spieth: We picked Spieth to finish Top 5 based off of gut instinct and he’s T7 after two rounds. This may hit! Hop aboard the Jordan Spieth rollercoaster. Did we mention he had 3 birdies on the way out and 3 bogeys on the way in? Wheee!

Rory McIlroy: Rory shot even par in the second round, he’s still alive after two rounds, but not as close to the top of the board as he’d like to be.

Viktor Hovland: Our pick for OR winner is sitting at even par. T24 and ten off of the leader. Gonna take a Herculean effort from the young man.

💰 Shanks Picks 💰

Here’s the card from pre-tournament that we sent out on Wednesday.

THE MAKE THE CUT PARLAYS HAVE BOTH HIT. MAJOR SWEAT.

Shout out to Steg from Jersey for the tip! Shout out to Ole Paddy for grinding to make the cut. Shout out to Peacock for not showing Rickie Fowler finish up on 18, but saving par anyway.

Weekend Bet: We are getting on the Tommy Fleetwood bandwagon at +400 on Fanduel.

Justin Thomas Might Not Make Ryder Cup

Justin Thomas is struggling this season. He’s missed the cut in three out of four majors - including a disastrous showing at The Open this week.

Obviously, his poor play has lead to a lot of questions about whether or not he will be selected for The Ryder Cup. Captain Zach Johnson was asked if he’s concerned at all by JT’s play…

"Well, as a friend and roommate [this week], I'm concerned just because he's my buddy and I know what he's capable of and that sort of thing," Johnson said Friday. "Yeah, obviously, he's a stalwart in that event, right? I don't know his record off the top of my head, but I know it's pretty good."

Read More.

Golf Shots Heard Round The Open

A Chance: Rory McIlroy feels he still has chance of winning 151st Open despite Friday’s 70.

How To: Watch Round 3 of The Open

Golf Twitter: Lost it’s collective mind as coverage switched to dumbass Peackcock for the final hour of round two, which charges you $5.99 to sign up. No one saw Rickie Fowler save par and make the cut on 18.

Shanks Says: How f*cking stupid is this Peacock thing? Farce!

Golf Data: The Open

Golf Thing We'd Buy If We Weren't Broke

What better way to celebrate The British Open than purchasing a $700 Scotty Cameron putter that proudly represents the USA?

Enter the Scotty Cameron Choice, a beautiful and patriotic Newport Plus, Newport 1.5 Plus, Newport 2 Plus, and Newport 2.5 Plus featuring all with red, white, and blue accents around the screw heads, matching stripes on the face and sole, and a matching premium headcover.

For years I’ve held the belief that I might never get rid of my original Odyssey White Hot putter (that I’m quite good with) but this putter makes me question that decision. You know what isn’t in question though?

My freedom to represent life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, even if I 3-putt in front of the boys during a scramble tournament.

That's all folks! Have a great weekend of golf and see you Monday for The Open recap!