LAST UPDATE | 9 Jul 2021
PÁDRAIG HARRINGTON IS four shots off the lead at the halfway mark of the Scottish Open after a three-under-par second-round 68, but Rory McIlroy’s preparation for the Open Championship was curtailed as he missed the cut with an even-par 71.
McIlroy’s fellow Co. Down man Cormac Sharvin, meanwhile, is just a shot further back than Harrington after a superb five-under-par second round at the Renaissance Club.
Graeme McDowell also missed the cut after finishing on three over after a 72 on Friday, while Jonathan Caldwell finished up five shots further back on eight over after a 76.
Ryder Cup captain Harrington is in a tie for 11th ahead of Saturday’s third round. He added birdies on three and five to immediately build upon his opening-round 67.
Harrington bogeyed the eighth before bouncing back with birdies on the 10th and 13th. He bogeyed 15 but birdied again at 17, ending his second round on seven under par for the tournament, four shots behind joint leaders Jon Rahm, Jack Senior and Thomas Detry.
Sharvin didn’t drop a shot, registering five birdies as he moved into contention. He enters the third round tied for 16th.
A bogey on the eighth, his penultimate hole, saw McIlroy sign for a round of level-par 71 which left him one-under par overall, a single stroke on the wrong side of the cut.
McIlroy teed off among Friday’s early starters at the Renaissance Club, knowing that he would likely need to at least match his opening round 70 to make it to the weekend.
He looked to be on track with two birdies in his first nine holes — at the 13th and again at the 18th, where he stitched his approach shot to five feet — before dropping his first shot at the first.
A birdie on the second quickly got him back to three-under but further bogeys on the fourth and eighth proved very costly.
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