Waking at 4am to tee it up in the first group of the second day at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland, Leishman showed why many have considered The Open to be his best chance at major glory during a 3-under 68.

The Warrnambool product relishing his return to links golf and golf’s oldest Championship via his finish at last year’s Australian Open with his play in Round 2 lifting him to 1-under overall, nine shots back of world No.1 Scottie Scheffler’s 10-under mark.

Recording five birdies in his first 12 holes, Leishman looked as though he might not only lead the Aussie charge by day’s end, but find himself in the late groups come Saturday afternoon before bogeys at 13 and 14.

Admitting he may have needed a little more time to cool down before fronting the media on Thursday, a significantly more jovial Leishman couldn’t help but laugh as he described his round and how his dropped shot at the par-3 13^th eventuated when hitting the hosel of his 8-iron.

“Drove it well, didn’t hit any fairway bunkers today, which was good. That’s what killed me yesterday,” the 41-year-old said.

“That little mishap on 13 there. It’s a bit scary when that happens. Two-hole stretch that didn’t sort of do a whole lot wrong apart from that tee shot on 13. Happy with the day.

“Obviously you try to block it out of your head, but they do say the hardest shot in golf is the one after a shank. I felt like every shot coming in was that shot. It was tough, but you’ve got to laugh about it and hope it doesn’t happen again for a while.”

Avoiding the hosel, and numerous heavy showers that came after he had signed his card, successfully, Leishman nearly holed his second shot at the 18^th before failing to convert for a sixth, and final, birdie then detailing his plans for the afternoon.

“Obviously I would have liked to go a little bit lower, but we always do as golfers. Happy to be watching it on TV. I’ll probably have a pint or two of Guinness and enjoy my afternoon,” he said.

The rest of the Aussie contingent were certainly far from enjoying their afternoons, with Jason Day fighting valiantly to make the cut that eventually fell at 1-over after teetering until late in the day.

The former world No.1 breaking an eight hole par streak after a second shot to just 10 inches at the 17^th hole to reach 2-over before another birdie nearly followed at the 18^th. Day’s putt from 45 feet looking every chance of finding the bottom of the cup most of the way, but ultimately staying above ground and costing the major winner weekend golf.

The two New Zealanders in the field, Daniel Hillier and Ryan Fox, no doubt also refreshing the leaderboard constantly throughout the afternoon having finished on the same 2-over total as Day, and eventually being left disappointed

Adding to a difficult golf course and testing conditions, Elvis Smylie’s Open tilt was conducted while ill, with the disappointed Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia Order of Merit winner able to hold his head high for a fighting 1-under second round that ultimately left him 3-over-par.

“I mean I always fight till the end, so I knew that it was going to be a tough grind to be able to post a good score and potentially make the cut, but I haven’t been feeling a hundred percent lately,” Smylie said.

“I’m proud of the fight, but then again, I’m just a little bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to give a hundred percent.”

Curtis Luck another of those to fight hard on Friday, with the West Australian who continues to battle injury problems and a lack of tournament golf improving his score by 10 shots for a 1-under 70 that included a bogey at the last for an 8-over total.

The 2022 Open Champion Cameron Smith finishing on the same score, so too debutant Ryan Peake, while Lucas Herbert (+4), Min Woo Lee (+5) and Adam Scott (+9) will look ahead to the 2026 majors for their next chance.

“I just didn’t convert anything. It’s a course where it can bite you in the butt pretty quick. I didn’t obviously play too good the first, these two rounds and onto the next year of majors,” Lee said no doubt representing the views of his compatriots outside Leishman.

All four rounds of The 153rd Open Championship will be broadcast live on Fox Sports and Kayo.

Australasian Scores
T26 Marc Leishman, (-1)
MC Jason Day, (+2)
MC Daniel Hillier (NZ), (+2)
MC Ryan Fox (NZ), (+2)
MC Elvis Smylie, (+3)
MC Lucas Herbert, (+4)
MC Min Woo Lee, (+5)
MC Curtis Luck 80 (+8)
MC Cameron Smith, (+8)
MC Ryan Peake, (+8)
MC Adam Scott, (+9)