Jason Day makes Troon Open move as Lowry leads
Ian Chadband |
Jason Day has moved powerfully into contention on the second morning of the British Open at Royal Troon, shooting a flawless three-under par round of 68 to race up the leaderboard.
But like the rest of the field, the Australian star was left chasing Ireland’s 2019 champion Shane Lowry, who overcame a mid-round calamity to shoot a 69 and forge into a two-shot lead midway through Friday’s second round.
Australian No.1 Day had begun Friday eight shots adrift of leader Dan Brown, but after a fine morning’s work at the Ayrshire links, his bogey-free second round had thrust him into the top-eight.
He was just four behind Brown, who had slipped to five under after 12 holes, and six adrift of Lowry.
It could have been even better for the 36-year-old Day, who missed a 12-foot birdie putt at the last, yet his round was still the joint-best among the early Friday starters alongside American Billy Horschel, whose own 68 left him on two under.
Day was just a shot behind, which looked potentially an even more promising position with the worst weather conditions forecast for later in the afternoon.
Two-over after his first round, a 30-foot birdie putt at the second hole, followed by another six footer at the next, got the Queenslander back to level par. Another 25-foot birdie effort at the 13th put him into red figures.
After last year’s runner-up’s spot at Royal Liverpool which completed his set of second-place finishes at all the majors, former world No.1 Day is now looking to go one better at Troon and add a second big-four crown to the PGA Championship he won nine years ago.
But Lowry remains the man to beat after the most eventful round in which he grabbed the lead, had it torn away from him with a double-bogey at the 11th, then rallied to take control again.
The Portrush champion from 2019 had recorded three birdies before the turn to take the reins from Brown, who had led with his overnight 65.
Lowry had dropped his first shot of the tournament after 23 holes when finding the bunker at the par-three fifth, but otherwise looked in complete control as he sank birdie putts from nine feet at the first, tap-in range at the long fourth and 11 feet at the ninth.
But he then pulled his second shot at the notorious ‘Railway’ hole into the gorse, took a penalty drop and hit his fourth on to the green, only for his original ball to be found by a spectator.
That meant it was still in play and, after a long delay while it was determined where he could best take a drop, Lowry hit his approach just short of the green and eventually completed a double-bogey six to fall back to the joint-lead on five under.
It only brought the best golf out of the 37-year-old, as he birdied both the 16th and last holes.
Lowry had been playing alongside Australia’s 2022 champ Cam Smith, whose miserable Open continued following his first-round 80, his worst ever round in a major.
After his nine bogeys and a triple-bogey on Thursday, five more bogeys on Friday were offset only by the blessed relief of a couple of birdies, but at 12 over following his second-round 74, he was set to miss the cut by eight strokes.
AAP
