Troon: Shane Lowry moved into the lead of the 152nd British Open at seven under par after his second round at Royal Troon on Friday as a tame Tiger Woods limped to 14 over to miss the cut.
Woods is not the only big name to struggle in the blustery conditions on Scotland’s west coast as Rory McIlroy will begin his second round at seven over and likely needing an under par round to make the weekend.
Lowry had been usurped at the top of the leaderboard late on Thursday by unheralded Englishman Daniel Brown, who posted a six under 65.
Sign of nerves
However, the Irishman, who won his sole major at the British 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.
He leads by two shots from Brown, who showed little sign of nerves under the spotlight in his first major, with a steady first 14 holes to sit at five under.
Lowry was on the charge as he hit the turn in 34 thanks to birdies on the first, fifth and eighth.
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.
Costly miss
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.
The American was not blown off track as the winds strengthened through Friday afternoon with 11 pars in his opening 13 holes before a monster putt at the 14th and a birdie on the par-five 16th took him within striking range.
However, a costly bogey on the last left him still four adrift of Lowry.
USPGA Championship winner Xander Schauffele is also in the mix after a one over par round was enough to keep him in the top 10 at one under.
Woods’ worst ever Open
Woods’ tournament came to a sorry end 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.
“I’d like to have played more, but I just wanted to make sure that I was able to play the major championships this year,” Woods told reporters after his second round the west coast of Scotland.
“I’ve gotten better, even though my results really haven’t shown it, but physically I’ve gotten better, which is great.
“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.”
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.
But the three-time British Open champion cut a sorry figure as he trudged around the Troon links with his two-round score a tie for 149th out of the 154 players still active in the tournament.
His score of 156 over two rounds matches his worst ever at a major with the 2015 US Open and is his poorest at a British Open by three shots.
Strong winds
Strong winds ensured low scoring remained difficult with the sixth, which had been the longest hole in British Open history on Thursday at 623 yards, reduced by 20 yards due to the conditions.
Attention later turns to McIlroy’s attempt to recover from a disastrous opening round of 78 with the projected cut sitting at four over.
The Northern Irishman’s chances of ending a decade-long drought to win a major already appear gone.
But the world number two has only failed to make the cut once in his last 14 majors.
US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau also has work to do to hang around for the weekend as he begins his second round at five over.
