Darren Clarke seized the early second-round clubhouse lead at the Senior Open Championship by adding a three-under-par 67 to his opening 65 at Gleneagles, leaving him eight-under-par overall.
After a final-hole birdie rounded out his day in style, Clarke said: "I hit it nicely and gave myself some nice looks. It probably could have been a few better but eight-under is a good score here this week.
"There's a few flags out there you have to play away from. The fairways are good and tight so you can really nip one and get some spin.
"If you keep it on the fairway, you can score. But if you start missing fairways, you can get in trouble."
Clarke is two shots clear of American Scot Parel, with eight players tied for third on five-under-par, including Pádraig Harrington. The Dublin carded a second round 69.
Paul McGinley will be around for the weekend after he shot a successive 71 to leave him two over.
Sean Fitzgerald will miss the cut after rounds of 76, 75.
