McIlroy extends Open lead as Scott battles

A strong second-round finish has kept Adam Scott in the British Open hunt but it may not matter with Rory McIlroy threatening to run away with the Claret Jug.

McIlroy enjoyed the rub of the green with conditions for the second straight day at Royal Liverpool Golf Club on Friday, carding a second straight six-under 66 to extend his overnight lead to four shots.

The Northern Irishman sits at 12-under par, with big mover Dustin Johnson (65) in outright second and world No.1 Scott nine shots back after a rollercoaster round of 73 in blustery morning conditions.

Fellow Australian Marc Leishman (72), enjoying his best British Open yet, sits alongside Scott at three under with Jason Day (73) scraping inside the cut at two over.

Scott, desperate for British Open glory after painful near misses in recent years, has found himself among the unfortunate half of the field copping the worst conditions on both days.

While the morning groups had the advantage of still conditions on Thursday, it was a reversal on Friday as Scott and a host of big names struggled in strong winds that disappeared mid-afternoon.

With his belly putter also misfiring, Scott dropped as low as one under with two sets of back-to-back bogeys but crucial birdies on his last two holes offered hope for the weekend.

With McIlroy later distancing the field, Scott’s bid to became the first Australian British Open winner in 21 years will likely rest on forecast stormy weather arriving on Saturday.

“(The forecast) doesn’t look great and I think that’s all right,” Scott said.

“The last 36 of the major is going to be a grind and if it’s tough conditions, you know, I’m certainly up for that challenge.

“I feel like I’m swinging the club really well.

“So the tougher it gets, I think more of that favours me.”

Scott had spoken after round one of the need to keep pace with McIlroy, whose two major wins – at the 2011 US Open and 2012 PGA Championship – have come by eight strokes.

However McIlroy bucked his recent trend poor second rounds at the majors, recovering from a bogey on the first to plunder seven birdies on a glorious, still afternoon at Hoylake.

Like Scott, Leishman is clinging to hope conditions can bring McIlroy back to the field.

“You never know with the weather. If I can just keep doing what I’m doing and limit my mistakes, I’ll be in a good spot,” Leishman said.

John Senden and Matt Jones both made the cut at one-over despite second-round 74s while Day (73) made a birdie on the 18th to extend his tournament.

Brett Rumford and Rhein Gibson were late finishers while 23-year-old Bryden Macpherson backed up his horror opening-round 90 with an eight-over-par 80 to finish last at 26 over for the tournament.

“I think it’s character-building,” a philosophical Macpherson said after one of the worst Open performances in recent memory.

Returning Tiger Woods struggled badly, making double bogey on the first hole of a five-over round of 77, yet he somehow scrambled to make the cut with a birdie at the last.

Six players – Sergio Garcia (70), Rickie Fowler (69), Ryan Moore (68), Charl Schwartzel (67), Louis Oosthuizen (68) and Francesco Molinari (70) – shared third spot, two behind American Johnson who produced the round of the day in the afternoon calm.

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