Jason Day makes Troon Open move with fine second round

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Jason Day makes Troon Open move with fine second round

Jason Day has moved powerfully into contention on the second morning of the British Open at Royal Troon, ********* a flawless three-under par round of 68 to race up the leaderboard.

The *********** No.1 started Friday eight shots adrift of leader Dan Brown, but with the pacesetters struggling to consolidate their advantage on another gusty morning at the Ayrshire links, Day’s bogey-free second round ensured he had cut the deficit in half by the time of his lunchtime finish.

It could have been even better for the 36-year-old, who missed a 12-foot birdie putt at the last, yet his round was still the ******-best among the early Friday starters alongside ********* Billy Horschel, whose own 68 left him the early second-round clubhouse leader at two under.

Day was just a shot behind and in a top-10 spot, which looked potentially even more promising 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 *****, 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.

His cause was helped when both the overnight pacesetters stuttered while trying to consolidate their advantage.

Shane Lowry grabbed the outright lead, then had it torn away from him in his roller-coaster round.

The 2019 champion recorded three more birdies before the turn to move to seven under and open up a two-shot advantage over England’s overnight leader Dan Brown.

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 the Irishman had a calamity at the 11th when he pulled his second shot 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 ******-lead on five under.

Lowry was playing alongside Australia’s 2022 champ Cam Smith, whose ********** Open continued following his first-round 80, his worst ever round in a major.

Three more bogeys in the first six holes were offset by the blessed relief of a rare birdie at the seventh but at 11 over after 13 holes the 30-year-old was sure to miss the cut, which was projected to be at four over.

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