Kim Ju-hyung shares Scottish Open lead after Round 2; Scheffler misses cut

Kim Ju-hyung shared the lead for the second consecutive day at the Genesis Scottish Open, a co-sanctioned PGA Tour and DP World Tour event with a $9 million purse.

Kim carded a 4-under-par 66 Friday (local time) at Renaissance Club (par 70) in North Berwick, Scotland, posting an eagle and three birdies against one bogey.

Having entered the day tied for the lead after a 5-under first round, Kim reached a 36-hole total of 9-under 131 to share the top spot with Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) and Jordan Smith (England).

Kim finished third at last month's US Open and has shown signs of a resurgence. He continued his bid for a title heading into the week before the Open Championship — the season's final major, which begins Thursday.

Starting on the first hole, Kim stumbled early with a three-putt bogey on the par-3 third, but recovered with an eagle on the par-5 seventh to turn under par.

On the back nine, he drained an approximately 10-meter birdie putt on the par-4 13th, then added back-to-back birdies on the 16th (par 4) and 17th (par 3) to close out a strong round.

"The wind picked up and made things a bit tricky. It was blowing in a completely different direction from yesterday, but I think my experience playing in winds from all directions over the years helped," Kim said. "I'm happy to be in a good position heading into the weekend."

He added: "While I wasn't getting much attention, I kept working on my game and improving. I'm still trying to be the best I can be. I think all of that has been building up and showing in the results over the past few weeks."

McIlroy, who successfully defended his title at the Masters Tournament in April, was also on track for a second win of the season, while Smith — still seeking his first PGA Tour victory — fired a 7-under round Friday to join the co-leaders.

Min Woo Lee (Australia) and Matt Fitzpatrick (England) were tied for fourth at 8-under 132, while defending champion Chris Gotterup (United States) — who won three times this season including last week's John Deere Classic — finished tied for sixth at 7-under 133.

Kim Si-woo, ranked seventh in the FedEx Cup standings, shot a 3-under round Friday to jump 34 spots to a tie for 38th at 3-under 137. Lee Jeong-hwan (3-over 143), Lim Sung-jae, Choi Seung-bin (both 4-over 144), Kim Baek-jun (9-over 149) and Ok Tae-hoon (10-over 150) all missed the cut.

Jon Rahm (Spain), Adam Scott (Australia) and Viktor Hovland (Norway) narrowly made the cut, finishing tied for 49th at 2-under 138.

The cut fell at 2-under, and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler fell on the wrong side of it, dropping two strokes Friday to finish at even-par 140. It was Scheffler's first missed cut at a PGA Tour event in nearly four years, since the St. Jude Championship in August 2022.