Scottie Scheffler’s caddie gets ‘really sick’ at The Open as he is is spotted lying down at Royal Troon

Scottie Scheffler leads the U.S. charge for a rare Majors Grand Slam, but had to shoot a second straight 70 yards without the usual encouragement of his friend and caddie, Ted Scott.

The world number one remained in contention with a five-stroke deficit to leader Shane Lowry despite Scott feeling so unwell he had to sit or lie flat on the green while his charge was putting.

“He had food poisoning or some kind of stomach virus,” Scheffler said.

“He didn’t sleep much on Thursday night and we didn’t know if he would be able to go this morning, but he held on. You could see him lying there quite a bit, which was quite funny.

“It was one of those deals. I’m used to him being in one position, right there by the bag, and all of a sudden he was sitting on No. 9 on the 10th tee for literally 10 minutes while we were putting.

Scheffler revealed that Scott, who has been with his caddie since 2021, is battling food poisoning

Scott, 39, looks at a map of Royal Troon’s 45-hole course during the sixth hole on Friday

“I haven’t even seen him, which is a little unusual, but he’s a fighter. He fought through it and did well.”

Scheffler and fellow American Xander Schauffele and Bryson DeChambeau have won the first three Majors this year and another victory for the US would mark its first clean sweep since 1982, when Tom Watson (2), Craig Stadler and Raymond Floyd triumphed.

The 28-year-old Masters champion, who was arrested by the USPGA in May after attempting to drive onto Valhalla Golf Club and later rescinded, entered the race with birdies on holes 14 and 16 and is expected to have a good chance despite losing a stroke on the final hole after a mishit tee shot.

“I feel like I’m in a decent position,” he said. “I would have liked to be up there, but I’ve had two solid rounds and I’ll just try to hit good shots and putts.”

Although Britain and Ireland are at the top of the standings, Scheffler and a large number of Americans are ready to strike at the weekend, and they are receiving a lot of support from the stands as large numbers of fans cross the Atlantic to Royal Troon.

Billy Horschel (-2), US Open winner Schauffele (-1) and Patrick Cantlay (-1) are all in the top 10, with Horschel taking advantage of the more favourable conditions in the morning to post a score of 68.

Scott used to be Bubba Watson’s caddie and watched him and Scheffler each win two majors

With his ailing caddie, Scheffler shot a 1-under-par 70 with three birdies and two bogeys on Friday

Schauffele and Cantlay were in Tiger Woods’ group, with Cantlay reaching the turn in 33, inspired by playing with the 15-time Major winner.

“It’s always great to be out with Tiger, especially when my buddy Xander is in the group,” he said. “Tiger is a great competitor and we all three had a lot of fun.

“I felt like we had the best fans, and that’s what you get with Tiger.”

Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Collin Morikawa formed a trio of American heavyweights who cannot be ruled out after one over.

Johnson is not ruling out another Stars and Stripes success. “These are tough conditions, you can get behind quite a bit if you play well,” he said.

Scott seemed to improve physically throughout the day, which was an encouraging sign for Scheffler

‘My wife and a few of her friends are in Saint-Tropez. I don’t blame them for not liking this weather!’

Other American hopefuls did not fare well. Justin Thomas, who largely led the field on Monday, double-bogeyed three of his first five holes yesterday to drop down the leaderboard.

Defending champion Brian Harman struggled and failed to drop a stroke on holes three, four and five.

DeChambeau lost two strokes before making his first birdie on nine as he tried to repair the damage done by a first-round 76.