Ireland’s Shane Lowry finds himself in a familiar position at the British Open, albeit one that took a detour to get there on a busy day at Royal Troon.
Lowry made a double bogey at 11e hole, but he redeemed himself with two birdies on his last three holes for a score of 69 (minus-2) on Friday.
He sits at 7 under after two rounds and has a two-shot lead at the top of the standings. Lowry also led after 36 holes when he won the 2019 British Open at Portrush.
“I know tomorrow (Saturday) is going to be a long day, but I’ve been there before,” Lowry said. “I have to come out and play like I’m the only one, go for the best score I can. There’s no point worrying about what other people are doing. You have to worry about your own game.”
The English Daniel Brown (72) and Justin Rose (68) follow at minus-5.
Royal Troon was the scene of some horrific scenes on Friday.
Justin Thomas, who had shot a first-round 68, shot a 45 on the front nine and needed to play his best golf to post a 78 and at least qualify for the weekend rounds.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre had an even more miserable start to his round. The local favourite after winning the Scottish Open last week was playing 8-over after four holes! He redeemed himself on the back nine to also play this weekend thanks to a score of 75.
Aguri Iwasaki had the worst day of all. He carded nines on two consecutive holes and shot a 91.
Canadian Corey Conners moved into a tie for seventh at 1 under with a 70. Fellow Canadian Mackenzie Hughes (74) is in the group tied for 13th.e rank at plus-1. Nick Taylor (75) and Adam Hadwin (77) failed to qualify for the weekend rounds.
Tiger Woods cut
For his part, Tiger Woods ended his season by being excluded from the weekend rounds at a third major tournament in a row.
He shot a 77 (plus-6) in the second round.
Woods set a Masters record by crossing the cut with a 24e times in a row. It is the only tournament among the five he has participated in this year where he worked during the weekend.
Woods got into a bad situation with a 79 in the first round at Royal Troon on Thursday. He never really had any hope of qualifying for the weekend’s rounds. He double bogeyed his second hole on Friday before the wind even picked up. He had only one birdie in his round.
“I didn’t play very well,” Woods admitted. “I made a double bogey early in the round when it was supposed to go the other way! I feel like I was fighting with myself all day. I was never really close enough to make birdies. The result was that I made a lot of bogeys.”
Woods said he will not play again until December at the Hero World Challenge, which he is hosting, and then at the PNC Championship, where he will team up with his son.
It was the first time since 2019 that Woods was healthy enough to play in all four majors this season. It was the second time in his career that he failed to make the cut in at least three majors in a season.