Less than 24 hours after being cruelly denied a place in the record books, former champion Phil Mickelson made the most of a stroke of luck to create history in the 145th Open Championship.
Mickelson added a second round of 69 to his opening 63 at Royal Troon for a 10-under-par total of 132, one shot lower than the previous best at the Ayrshire venue set by American Bobby Clampett in 1982 and equalled by Darren Clarke in 1997.
And although that was only good enough for a one-shot lead over Sweden's Henrik Stenson, Mickelson could count his blessings at being firmly on the right side of a draw
The top 14 players on the leaderboard had all played late on Thursday and teed off by 10:09am on Friday, while driving wind and rain in late afternoon sent scores soaring.
That was of little concern to Mickelson, who was left hoping for a repeat of the result at Muirfield in 2013, when he claimed his fifth major title as Stenson finished runner-up.
"We're only halfway done with the tournament so it's too far off to start thinking like that, but certainly there is nothing more than I would love to add another Claret Jug," said the 46-year-old, who would become the fourth oldest winner of any major and the oldest in the Open since 1867.
"I think there is a lot of pressure off me given the fact that I've already got one.
"The other thing is that from ten years ago, when I was playing my best golf, I'm 25 pounds lighter, I'm in better shape, I'm physically stronger than I was.
“I feel better and now that my swing is back on plane, I'm starting to hit some shots like I did ten years ago and starting to play some of my best golf again.
"So I don't see why there's any reason why I can't continue that, not just this week, but for years. That's kind of what the game plan is."
Mickelson had come agonisingly close to making history on day one, his birdie putt on the 18th to record the first 62 in any major championship catching the edge of the cup and staying out.
Golf’s 'Big Four' of world golf were left trailing in Mickelson’s for the second day running at the Open.
World number two Dustin Johnson (69) and fourth-ranked Rory McIlroy (71) were the best-placed of the quartet on two-under-par, eight adrift of the pacesetter.
Top-ranked Jason Day (70) was eleven shots behind American Mickelson while number three Jordan Spieth (75) just made the cut on four-over.
"I just tried to smile, tried to enjoy the fact that you don't play in this often," American Spieth told reporters of the squally showers and 20mph gusts that made conditions extremely difficult for the players at Royal Troon.
"You wish your score didn't matter when you play in this. You wish this was just a round with your buddies where you go into the clubhouse and have one or seven pints afterwards."
Spieth and McIlroy teed off in the afternoon, when the weather was at its worst, and suggested they were on the wrong side of the draw.
"I feel like I've played very well," said McIlroy. "I kept it together in the conditions.
"Anything around even-par this afternoon was a decent score. It's the Open championship, some draws go your way and some draws don't."
Three-time major champions Padraig Harrington shot a one over par round to sit on even par at the halfway stage, one shot ahead of former Open winner Darren Clarke.
Graeme McDowell just about made the cut on four over and for a long time on Friday and looked as though he would be heading home until the mark was moved out by one shot.
Currently unpacking my bags.....
— Graeme McDowell (@Graeme_McDowell) July 15, 2016
World number 14 Louis Oosthuizen, 17th-ranked Hideki Matsuyama and number 27 Shane Lowry were among the high-profile victims of the halfway cut at the Open on Friday.
Former champions Ernie Els, Justin Leonard, Todd Hamilton, Mark Calcavecchia, John Daly and Ben Curtis also failed to make the weekend.
South African Oosthuizen, who won golf's oldest major at St Andrews in 2010 and recorded a hole-in-one at the short 14th on Thursday, crashed to a 12-over 83 in the second round.
Lowry did his best, in the driving rain and 20mph winds, to get his challenge back on track after a sorry opening 78 but a 71 was not enough.
"I played great," the Irishman told reporters. "I was like (wrestler) Hulk Hogan yesterday and (golfing great) Ben Hogan today."
