Furious Shane Lowry snaps club in half as big names struggle at The Open

Shane Lowry summed up the feelings of many at Royal Liverpool by snapping his club in half at The Open on Friday.

The Irishman was one of several big names to miss the cut after shooting seven-over during the first two days.

Collin Morikawa, Tony Finau and Justin Thomas also failed to make the weekend, while world no.1 Scottie Scheffler and defending champion Cam Smith only scraped under the cutline on the 36th hole.

Lowry entered the tournament as a possible dark horse, having won The Open in 2019, and displayed promising form coming into Hoylake.

However, with his fate all-but sealed in the closing stages of round two, he was seen snapping a club in half out of sheer frustration.

It was a difficult day for many of the game’s top players as they struggled to get anywhere near leader Brian Harman.

As others faltered, the American shot an astonishing 65 to seize the clubhouse lead at ten-under par.

Englishman Tommy Fleetwood backed up his opening 66 with a second-round 71 to stay within five shots of Harman.

Former Open champion Jordan Spieth is another notable name on the first page of the leaderboard at two-under par, while Rory McIlroy has a mountain to climb.

The Northern Irishman is tied for 12th at one-under par after shooting 70 on Friday, but that leaves him nine shots adrift of the lead with 36 holes to play.

Listen to live commentary of round three on talkSPORT 2, starting at 9am on Saturday!