Padraig Harrington flies up the leaderboard at Senior Open

Padraig Harrington played his way back into contention at The Senior Open Championship at Royal Porthcawl Golf Club.

The Dubliner was way down the field following a first round 75, which left him nine shots off the lead in Wales, however, an impressive three-under 68 on Friday saw the three-time major winner catapult up the leaderboard into a share for 16th place.

Harrington sits five shots off the lead, held by Steven Alker of New Zealand, while he is just two shots off fourth place going into the weekend.

Darren Clarke and Damian Mooney both made the cut by the bare minimum following identical rounds of three over to sit on five over for the tournament.

Alker rose to the top of the leaderboard amid tougher conditions, carrying a one-shot lead into the weekend at Bridgend.

Celebrating his 52nd birthday by shooting a three-under-par 68 to get to four-under through two rounds, Alker is one of just seven players under par at the halfway point.

The leader is one stroke better than Germany's Alex Cejka, who remained in second place with an even-par 71. Scotland's Greig Hutcheon posted a 68 to climb to third on two under.

Paul Lawrie of Scotland, Anders Hansen of Denmark, VijaySingh of Fiji, and Englishman Paul Broadhurst are tied for fourth at one under.

Alker burst onto the PGA Tour Champions scene in late 2021 and has won six tournaments on the 50-and-older circuit, including one major, the 2022 Kitchen Aid Senior PGA Championship. He's playing Royal Porthcawl for the first time this week.

"I think the big thing is off the tee," Alker said. "Obviously if you're in the bunkers you're penalized, so a lot of different clubs off the tee. I think I've hit everything in my bag this week, and that's the sign of a good golf course, when