Open leader Shane Lowry ready to deal with whatever Royal Troon throws at him

Shane Lowry believes he is ready to take whatever is thrown at him “on the chin” after keeping his bid for a second Open title firmly on track at Royal Troon.

Lowry added a second round of 69 to his opening 66 for a halfway total of seven under par and two-shot lead over English duo Justin Rose and Dan Brown, who both came through 36-hole final qualifiers earlier this month.

With a strong wind sending scores soaring for the later starters, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Bryson DeChambeau, Ludvig Aberg and Tommy Fleetwood all missed the cut, but home favourite Robert MacIntyre and Justin Thomas fought back from horror starts to make the weekend.

Lowry also recovered from a double bogey on the 11th with birdies on the 16th and 18th as he bids to lift the Claret Jug for a second time following his triumph at Royal Portrush in 2019.

A good day on the links @TheOpen ☘️ pic.twitter.com/zWTKJdyWpR

— Shane Lowry (@ShaneLowryGolf) July 19, 2024

Surprise overnight leader Brown, who had completed a flawless 65 at 9:33pm on Thursday, battled to a second round of 72, while Rose returned a superb 68 and has dropped just one shot in 36 holes.

Lowry felt he had “done the hard part” on the 11th by getting his tee shot in play, but was distracted by a cameraman on his second shot and pulled it into the gorse.

After taking a penalty drop, Lowry hit his fourth shot to around 10 feet to give himself a chance to salvage a bogey, 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.

Former Ryder Cup player David Howell, the on-course commentator