Padraig Harrington surged up the leaderboard on day two of the Genesis Scottish Open after carding a four-under-par 66.
Harrington hit six birdies and two bogeys to move onto seven under, two shots behind clubhouse leaders Tyrell Hatton and Tom Kim.
Rory McIlroy added a second round of 66 to his opening 64 at the Renaissance Club to take a one-shot lead on ten under par.
Shane Lowry is also in contention heading into the weekend after a second-round 64 saw him improve to five under par, while Tom McKibbin could yet miss the cut despite sitting on two under.
.@ShaneLowryGolf showing why he's got one of the best short games in the world 🙌#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/6kMfk5dWz6
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 14, 2023
On the first group from the tenth tee at 7.15am, and facing with wet and windy conditions, Harrington followed three opening pars with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 16th and 18th to reach the turn in 31.
That took the three-time major winner to seven under, two shots behind Korea's Byeong-Hun An, who was due out in the last group following a course record-equalling 61 on Thursday.
Harrington's momentum was halted by a bogey on the first, but birdies on the sixth and seventh got him back on track before a bogey on the par-four eighth saw him drop to back to seven under.
"I hit a great drive off my first hole of the day, 80 yards short of where I hit it yesterday," the 51-year-old said.
"The marshals were a full 50 yards away from where they should have been for the first three, four holes because they had no idea how short the ball was going.
"That's the first time I’ve ever been out first and I was hoping that I might turn up and get a break with the weather, but we kind of got the opposite. Then it lightened up obviously after six or seven holes. The ball started going a bit and it got a little easier then."
Never rule out @padraig_h 🤩#GenesisScottishOpen | #RolexSeries pic.twitter.com/ov4MdYWlUh
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 14, 2023
Harrington’s last win on the DP World Tour was in 2016 but he has won five times on the Champions Tour in the last 13 months, including successfully defending his title in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open last month.
"I feel I can challenge anybody on a links golf course, without a doubt," he said. "From years of playing it comes natural to me.
"And I don’t have a problem coming back and playing with the young guys on any golf course, but obviously links makes it a little easier for me."
Meanwhile, Englishman Hatton surged into contention for a first victory in two and a half years with a "stressful" second round of 62.
Hatton, who began the day eight shots off the lead, carded nine birdies and a solitary bogey to set an early clubhouse target of nine under par which was matched by Kim.
Asked if his round was as easy as he made it look, Hatton said: "No, it was stressful at times, as most of my rounds are.
"But very happy with the chances I gave myself. I feel I hit a lot of good iron shots today, especially compared to Thursday. Very happy with how that was and nice to see some putts drop, too.
