Should he prevail here, he would become the first Australian since Greg Norman to lift the Claret Jug. There would be a touch of poetry attached to this situation given the R&A’s decision not to invite Norman to events for past champions earlier in the week of the tournament. As Norman’s position at the forefront of LIV Golf stirs controversy, Smith has emerged as his country’s most regular major challenger. “I’m a really impatient person,” Smith said. “Everyone who knows me hates me for it. So I have to do my best out there to be really patient, with the pace of the game, as well as the golf course. “Having to hit shots off the pin sometimes hurts the ego a little bit, but it’s what you have to do around here.” His eagle on the 14th, converted from 60 feet, moved him to 13-under and gave him some breathing room on the leaderboard. Thoughts Cameron Young might be feeling the heat on day two of his Open debut proved unfounded as he added a 69 to Thursday’s 64. Young will play alongside Smith in Saturday’s final group. “I just try to keep things really simple,” Young said. Rory McIlroy’s penchant for the spectacular. This was a day when the Northern Irishman, looking for a fifth major win after almost eight years of trying, bounced back admirably from setbacks. The scale of support for him from the galleries as the shadows lengthened was really something. He would be the popular winner. Rory McIlroy lines up a putt on the 17th green as fans watch intently. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian McIlroy was two under for the day and eight under for the championship when he went to the 8th tee. A missed shot on the first 3-pointer threatened to halt his momentum. Instead, he threw the 10th, 11th and 12th. There was another bogey at 15. McIlroy’s response was a superb iron from 190 yards and into the rough on the famously tough 17th. Converted from 15 feet for birdie. He was disappointed not to make the most of the opportunity in the end, where he could only manage a top four finish. Still, third place at 10-under 68 is the kind of position McIlroy will relish. The failure to put himself in position to win major championships on several occasions since August 2014 has irked the 33-year-old more than the victory itself. There’s a calmness around McIlroy right now that suggests something special is about to happen. “I’m putting holes in everything and I’m leaving thinking I could have been a couple better, but I’m in a great position for the weekend,” he said. “I had two really, really solid rounds to open and I’m happy with that. It would be nice to sell the last one, but I would have taken to play the last two in one down. I just did it the other way around the way I thought I was going to do it. You just have to be patient and limit the mistakes out there. “It’s been like that all year. I felt in control of everything and I think the results and the consistency confirmed that.” Quick guide
The Open: second round leaderboard
projection -13 Cameron Smith (Australia)-11 Cameron Young (USA)-10 Rory McIlroy (NI), V Hovland (Nor)-9 D Johnson (USA)-8 T Hatton (Eng), S Scheffler (US)-7 T Gooch (USA), A Scott (Australia), P Cantlay (USA), S Thegala (USA)-6 Kim SW (Kor), M Fitzpatrick (Eng), MW Lee (Aus), S Kaewkanjana (Tai), B Brown (Eng, a), L Herbert (Aus).-5 A Wise (US), A Ancer (Mex), Y Katsuragawa (Jpn), D Carey (Ire), L Westwood (Eng), X Schauffele (US), T Detry (Bel). Selected others:-4 J Spieth (US), J Rahm (Sp), P Reed (US), V Perez (Fr), S Lowry (Ire), W Zalatoris (US), J Rahm (Sp)-3 S Burns (US), S García (Sp), I Poulter (Eng), T Fleetwood (Eng), -2 B Horschel (US), D Willett (Eng), J Kokrak (US), J Thomas (US)-1 P Casey (Eng), B DeChambeau (US), H Mastsuyama (Jpn), J Niemann (Chi)Par F Molinari (It), R MacIntyre (Sco), T Finau (US), K Kisner (US) Missing cut (selected):+1 Stenson H (Swedish), Oosthuizen L (SA), Homa M (US), Simpson W (US), Donaldson J (Wal), Els E (SA), Morikawa C (US).+3 P Harrington (Ire), K Bradley (USA), J Daly (USA), Z Johnson (USA)+4 B Wiesberger (Aut), K Na (USA), B Koepka (USA)+5 P Mickelson (USA), S Cink (USA)+9 T Woods (USA) +10 D Clarke (IN)+12 D Duval (USA) +21 M Calcavecchia (USA) Thanks for your response. McIlroy’s partner on day three will be Ryder Cup teammate Viktor Hovland. The Norwegian held out with a wedge from the semi-rough for two at the par-four 15th. Hovland’s 66 means he, too, is at 10 under. McIlroy and Hovland share a lead over Dustin Johnson, who improved on Thursday’s 68 by one. Tyrrell Hatton, who has won the Dunhill Links Championship at this venue, moved into contention on eight over courtesy of a 66. He has world No1 Scottie Scheffler for company on the scoreboard after 68s for the latter. Talor Gooch, Adam Scott, Patrick Cantlay and Sahith Theegala are seven under. Scott still carries the pain of failing to close out the 2012 Open, which he effectively handed to Ernie Els. “You don’t need a lot of extra motivation in an open league,” Scott said after his 65. “But whenever I think about letting someone slip from my grasp, it hurts. “It would be exciting if I had a really great round tomorrow to break out with a reasonable feeling of being in contention, not only because I haven’t really been in that position for a major for a while, but also because I’ve had one hand in this jug and I’d like to put two.’ A moment of slowdown arrived on the 18th tee after Justin Thomas, who bogeyed his drive on the same hole a day earlier, hit a perfect shot. “Much improved,” said Shane Lowry, Thomas’ partner. “Shut the hell up!” the US PGA champion replied with a laugh. Thomas and Lowry are two and four under respectively. Those who missed the cut alongside a tearful Tiger Woods were Brooks Koepka – once such a fixture in the majors – Padrig Harrington, Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson and defending champion Colin Morikawa. Harrington’s plus-three outing was particularly impressive. he was five-under for the tournament after two holes in the second round. John Daly, in what would be his final Open appearance, was able to survive for the weekend, but he went bogey, bogey, bogey.
