Germany’s Marcel Siem took advantage of more favourable conditions on the second day of the 152nd Open as a five-birdie blitz saw him charge up the leaderboard.
Royal Troon’s front nine is traditionally where most of the scoring can be done but Thursday’s winds made that more difficult.
However, with an easing of the breeze there were more opportunities to be had and the 44-year-old, playing in his seventh championship, took full advantage in the first group out and that offered hope to big-name stars like Rory McIlroy looking to get their tournaments back on track after a tough first day.
The birdie run continues.
Marcel Siem is 4-under par on his round and only 4 shots off the lead. pic.twitter.com/iCzJuTBI2M
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 19, 2024
Siem holed a 13-foot birdie putt at the first and added a second from inside that distance at the third, with a third in four holes coming at the 599-yard next.
He picked up further strokes at the par-five sixth and short Postage Stamp eighth to get to three under and only three off the lead.
However, a missed green at the next resulted in his first bogey of the day but he still turned in 32, putting him in a tie for fourth.
Surprise first-round leader Daniel Brown was hoping for a bigger following than he got in the penultimate group on Thursday with few spectators present at 9.33pm to see him sink a birdie on the last for a bogey-free 65.
Brown was out at 11.04am, although that meant his lead was likely to come under pressure from 2019 champion Shane Lowry who was teeing off more than an hour before him just a shot behind.
World number two McIlroy had a much longer wait – out at 3.10pm – before he could rectify the damage of an opening seven-over 78 and try to salvage his already-slim hopes of ending a decade-long major drought.
Two-time Open champion Ernie Els withdrew before his 7.19am tee time, the 54-year-old being one of a number of previous winners who struggled after shooting an 11-over 82.
Other players to lift the Claret Jug who found life on the links tough on the first day included John Daly and Todd Hamilton (both 11 over), Justin Leonard and Cameron Smith (both nine over) and Henrik Stenson (six over).
