RORY MCILROY FEELS he is in a strong position to end his major drought after maintaining his promising start to the Open at St Andrews.
McIlroy followed up his first-round 66 with 68 on Friday to sit on 10-under at the halfway stage, three behind leader Cameron Smith.
Elsewhere among the Irish, it was a day to remember for Dublin’s David Carey who sits in a share of 18th heading into the weekend after a brilliant five-under par 67 in his second round.
2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry is a shot further back on four-under, while the remainder of the Irish contingent failed to make the cut: Pádraig Harrington (+3), Seamus Power (+4), Ronan Mullarney (+7) and Darren Clarke (+10).
World number two McIlroy, 33, has not won any of golf’s major prizes for eight years but, despite feeling he could have shot even better, feels he is now well poised.
He reached the turn in one-under-par 35 before igniting with three successive birdies at the start of the back nine.
He dropped a shot at the 15th but holed a testing putt for par on the 16th and then birdied the tricky 17th ‘Road Hole’.
“Overall I felt like it was a good day,” said the 2014 Open champion. “I’m in a good position going into the weekend and that’s all I can really ask of myself.
“There was a couple of short putts there that I could have held and could have been a bit closer to the lead. It would have been nice to make a three at 18.
“But it’s two really, really solid rounds to open with and really happy with that.”
After an emotional Tiger Woods made an early exit from almost certainly his last competitive appearance on the Old Course earlier on Friday, it was Smith who stepped confidently into the spotlight with a flawless 64 to move to 13-under-par.
That surpassed the previous best for an Open at St Andrews – set by Nick Faldo and Greg Norman in 1990 and matched by Louis Oosthuizen in 2010 – by a shot and gave Smith a two-shot lead over Cameron Young, with Viktor Hovland alongside McIlroy a shot further back.
Smith birdied his first three holes, picked up three more around the turn and then holed from 60 feet for an eagle on the 14th to raise the prospect of equalling the lowest round in men’s major history, Branden Grace’s 62 at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
And although he was unable to make any further gains, the 28-year-old from Brisbane still occupied top spot on a leaderboard packed with world-class players.
“That was pretty cool out there,” a typically understated Smith said. ” A lot of things went right, but to do it here was awesome.”
A winner on the Old Course in both 2000 and 2005, Woods could only add a 75 to his opening 78 to finish nine over par and miss the cut in the Open for just the fourth time in his career.
As promised, Woods did not pause for commemorative photographs as he crossed the Swilcan Bridge, but it was clearly an emotional moment for the 46-year-old, who removed his cap to acknowledge the applause and waved to the packed grandstands.
“It was very emotional for me,” Woods said. “I have been coming here since 1995 and I don’t know when the next one comes around, in what, 2030, if I will be physically able to play by then.
“I felt like it might be my last British Open at St Andrews and the ovation and warmth was an unbelievable feeling.”
The earliest the Open could return to St Andrews is 2026, although 2027 would be more likely given the previous tradition of staging it on the Old Course every five years.
Two-time major winner Dustin Johnson was four shots off the lead after adding a 67 to his opening 68, with world number one Scottie Scheffler and England’s Tyrrell Hatton a shot further back.
US Open winner Matt Fitzpatrick is seven shots off the lead despite a superb 66, while Collin Morikawa’s reign as Open champion came to a disappointing end with a missed cut on one over.
