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.
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.
Lowry leads by two shots from Brown, who showed little sign of nerves under the spotlight in his first major, with a steady 72 to sit at five under.
“To be honest, I was happy enough leaving there with a six. It wasn’t a disaster,” said Lowry on his travails at 11.
“To be leading this tournament after two days, it’s why you come here.”
Lowry was on the charge as he hit the turn in 34 thanks to birdies on the first, fifth and eighth.
The world number 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 number one 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.
– 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.
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.
But the three-time British Open champion cut a sorry figure as he trudged around the Troon links with his two-round score leaving him in 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 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.
Scottish Open champion Bob MacIntyre’s dreams of a first major on home soil unravelled as he dropped eight shots in his first four holes to drop to nine over.
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