Collin Morikawa storms into the lead with sensational 64 on day two of The Open... with Louis Oosthuizen and Jordan Spieth now set to pick up the chase at Royal St George's
- The second day of the 149th Open Championship got underway on Friday
- South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen began the day as the clubhouse leader
- But American star Collin Morikawa stormed into a four-shot lead at Sandwich
- Jordan Spieth and Oosthuizen were among the later starters on day two
American Collin Morikawa stormed into a four-shot lead over Louis Oosthuizen on the second day of the 149th Open Championship at Royal St George's.
Day two got underway on Friday with South African Oosthuizen beginning on six under but Morikawa - who, despite being the world No 4 and a major champion, is making his debut in the event and only his second tournament on European soil after last week's Scottish Open - looked at home under brightening skies and softening winds at the Sandwich links.
Seven birdies in his first 14 holes catapulted him to the top of the leaderboard at 10 under, three better than first-round leader and 2010 champion Oosthuizen, out later in the day, and Daniel Van Tonder, who was then the clubhouse leader.
Colin Morikawa is the leader after his round on day two of the 149th Open Championship
The 24-year-old stormed into a three-shot lead ahead of the chasing pack in Kent on Friday
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Morikawa also won the 2020 US PGA on his debut in that event, however his form in Scotland - where he finished joint-71st with just one sub-70 round - gave no hint of what was to play out on Friday.
Morikawa covered the front nine in 31, the highlight being a brilliant approach to 18 inches at the par-four ninth, and back-to-back birdies at 11 and 12 opened up a gap at the top of the leaderboard.
Leader Oosthuizen will tee off just before 3pm BST alongside Shane Lowry and pre-tournament favourite John Rahm, with Thursday night's main chasers Jordan Spieth and Brian Harman resuming their bids from three under half an hour before.
South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen was the clubhouse leader on day one after an impressive 64
Both Oosthuizen and Spieth have put themselves in excellent opening positions to replicate their respective 2010 and 2017 Open victories.
There were other players who needed to make significant moves just to ensure they made the cut for the weekend.
Rory McIlroy began at level par only to bogey his first two holes and although he clawed one back with a birdie at the fourth there was still plenty of work to do.
A cloudier but still bright day of golf awaits those still to compete in Sandwich, Kent and also for the 32,000 spectators who are allowed to attend The Open.
Jordan Spieth also dazzled the Open crowd once again and is one shot behind Oosthuizen
Meanwhile, rivals Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau are still to finish, with their second rounds starting at 1pm and 2.30pm respectively.
DeChambeau, who was playing alongside Spieth, struggled to overpower the course and ended Thursday's opening round one over par.
The American was a frustrated figure on day one of the Open and criticised his own club supplier Cobra after Thursday's play.
He said: 'The driver sucks. It's not a good face for me and we're still trying to figure out how to make good on the mishits. I'm living on the razor's edge.
Once again, 32,000 spectators will attend day two of The Open at Kent's Royal St George's
'It's a golf course that's pretty short, so when I hit the driver and it doesn't go on the fairway, if it's not in the first cut, it's in the hay. It's tough for me to get it on to the green and control that.'
Cobra responded by calling DeChambeau's comments 'stupid' and claiming 'it’s very rare where he’s happy'.
Koepka, whose long-running feud with DeChambeau dominated the pre-tournament coverage, finished yesterday's play two shots ahead after producing a round of 69.
