Shane Lowry moved into the lead of the 152nd Open at seven under par after his second round at Royal Troon on Friday as Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods were among the star names to miss the cut.
Only 10 of the 154 players left in the field are under par as the blustery conditions on Scotland’s west coast wreaked havoc with five of the world’s top 10 failing to make the weekend.
Lowry leads by two from Justin Rose, who came through qualifying to book his place in Troon, and unheralded Englishman Daniel Brown on his Major debut.
The Irishman, who won his sole major at The Open in 2019, recovered from a dramatic double-bogey on the 11th that threatened to derail his charge to post a two under par round of 69.
“To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here,” said Lowry. “The job tomorrow as well is to try to put myself in a position to win this tournament on Sunday.”
Lowry was on the charge as he hit the turn in 34 thanks to birdies on the 1st, 5th and 8th.
The world No 33, though, was rocked as after a wayward tee shot at the 11th, he veered way left into thick bushes.
Remarkably Lowry’s ball was found, but deemed unplayable forcing him to play a drop and lose two shots.
He bounced back impressively picking up two shots in the final three holes.
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler has Lowry in his sights as the American moved into a share of fourth at two under despite dropping a shot at 18.
Scheffler has already won six times this year, including his second Masters title in April.
A monster putt at the 14th and a birdie on the par-five 16th took the American within striking range before a costly bogey on the last left him still five adrift of Lowry.
PGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele is also well in the running at one under.
McIlroy’s decade-long wait for a Major will extend into 2025 at least after a disastrous two days to finish on 11 over.
The world No 2 needed an under par round after shooting 78 on Thursday but carded a triple-bogey eight at the 4th in a run of six dropped shots in four holes.
“That four-hole stretch to start off is what cost me,” said the Northern Irishman. “Twenty-two holes into the event and I’m thinking about where I’m going to go on vacation next week.”
Woods was one of the few players to finish below McIlroy on 14 over after two rounds that will do little to quell doubts over whether he should continue to put a battered body through the strain of looking to add to his 15 Major titles.
The 48-year-old hit back at suggestions earlier in the week from former European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie that he should retire to preserve his status as one of the sport’s all-time legends.
Woods has stressed he feels physically better of late as he continues to fight back from the severe leg injuries he suffered in a car crash in 2021.
“I just need to keep progressing like that and then eventually start playing more competitively and start getting into kind of the competitive flow again,” he said.
The three-time Open champion’s score of 156 over two rounds matches his worst ever at a Major with the 2015 US Open and was his poorest at this event by three shots.
US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg, Wyndham Clark and Viktor Hovland were the other top-10 players to miss the cut.
They were joined by 2022 champion Cam Smith, Tommy Fleetwood and Sahith Theegala.
Scottish Open champion Bob MacIntyre bounced back from dropping eight shots in his first four holes to sneak into the weekend at five over.
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Photo: Warren Little/Getty Images
