Garrick Higgo used his approach game to superb effect on Friday in the second round of the 150^th Open Championship at the Old Course at St Andrews to reel off four successive birdies on his way to a three-under-par 69.

He added another birdie on the par-three 11^th, but bogeys on 16 and 17 – holes which have been problematic for many throughout the championship so far – hobbled his progress somewhat as he reached three-under for the tournament and a share of 36^th.

That put him 10 strokes behind the lead held by Australia’s Cameron Smith, who had a superb eight-under 65 to move to 13-under and a two-stroke lead over first-round leader Cameron Young of the United States. Young added a three-under 69 in the second round to his opening eight-under.

Higgo hit his approach on the first to 27 feet and made the birdie putt to set things in motion. He was even closer on the second, making an 18-footer for his second gain of the round. He was even more accurate on the third, hitting it to six feet for his third in a row, and he converted from just beyond 20 feet on the fourth.

It was pars all the way to until the 11^th, when made a 25-footer for his fifth birdie of the day. He needed to try and hold on down the stretch, but a wayward drive into the left rough on the 418-yard 16^th saw him hit his approach into the bunker just short left of the green. He was unable to get up and down from there.

He played the Road Hole perfectly with 320-yard drive over the hotel to the middle of the fairway, and found the green with his second. He cosied his 40-footer for birdie to within four feet – and missed the par putt.

At three-under, he shares 36^th with compatriot Dylan Frittelli, who had a one-under 71 in the second round.

One shot ahead of them, and the leading South African going into the weekend, was Thriston Lawrence, who, like Frittelli, kept his head above water with a one-under 71 which included five birdies and four bogeys.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout had a one-under 71 to move to level-par for the championship and a share of 66^th. He made the cut on the number, together with Dean Burmester, who had a one-over 73.

Justin Harding and Louis Oosthuizen missed the cut by one after rounds of 71 and 74 respectively. Ernie Els and Zander Lomabrd suffered the same fate, after Els battled to a 74, and Lombard’s four-under 68 was not enough to get him into the weekend.

Shaun Norris had a one-over 73 to miss by three, and amateur Aldrich Potgieter carded a four-under 76 to end off his first attempt at the Open.