Rory McIlroy well positioned as David Carey moves into top 20

Rory McIlroy backed up a fine first round with another impressive showing to ensure that he'll enter the third round of the Open just three shots behind leader Cameron Smith.

The Australian shot an eight-under-par second-round 64 at St Andrews to reach the halfway point of the final major of the year on 13-under.

His 36-hole aggregate of 131 was a new record for an Open at the Home of Golf.

For long stretches of Saturday it looked like Smith may be able to chisel out a sizeable lead but round one leader Cameron Young dug in to finish two shots back with McIlroy and Viktor Hovland a further shot behind on 10-under.

The next Irish name on the leaderboard is a surprise one, qualifier David Carey who is five-under, while Shane Lowry is a shot behind after responding to a double bogey at 16 with birdies at the two final holes.

There was disappointment for Seamus Power at his first Open though as he carded a 75 to finish on four-over par, four shots outside the cut-line.

It's McIlroy who will head the Irish charge heading into the weekend. He gave himself a look at birdie on nearly every hole, but his putter was cold in the early stages and the Holywood man cut a frustrated figure.

That looked set to continue on the par-five fifth after McIlroy’s approach was a club short after a massive drive, but he managed to sink his birdie putt to kick-start his round.

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Four more birdies would arrive between the seventh and 12th holes, but a bogey at the eighth hole had left him six shots off the lead for a brief stage.

Another shot would fall at the 15th after a sloppy close-range putt, but he nailed a fine effort at the 17th, playing tricky on Friday, for an important birdie on the Road Hole.

McIlroy had one last look at a birdie