Brian Harman in front at Open Championship, Tommy Fleetwood leads the chasing pack with Rory McIlroy nine behind

Brian Harman’s superb six-under-par 65 leads the way at the end of day two at the Open Championship.

The American was one of the early starters in the second round and capped off a stunning display with an eagle at the last to set the target for everyone on 10 under.

“I’ve had a hot putter the last couple days so I’ll try to ride it through the weekend. (There are) 36 holes to go, so I’ll try to rest up and get ready,” said Harman.

“I’d say it was nice to finally turn the corner last year to where – this is probably my seventh or eighth Open Championship. Before last year I had never really even been anywhere close to in contention or even doing halfway decent.”

Min-Woo Lee was also among the early starters and carded a score of 68 to go three under, leaving the Australian fourth on the leaderboard.

However, Christo Lamprecht endured a day of contrasting fortunes after holding the joint lead yesterday.

The South African made a disastrous start to the second round with five bogeys in the first six holes, drifting away to shoot a 79 and move three over par, but still has hopes of making the cut for round three.

It was a day of mixed fortunes for Rory McIlroy after starting brightly with a couple of birdies in the first five holes.

The Northern Irishman still needed a birdie on the last hole though to conclude the day at one under, nine strokes behind the leader.

Tyrell Hatton endured a torrid time at the 18th and was very much involved with the chasing pack at two under, but a dreadful quadruple double bogey nine moved him to two over.

Defending champion Cameron Smith needed an eagle at the last hole to score 72 and secure his place in the third round, while world No.1 Scottie Scheffler ended the day with 75 to be at three over.

Tommy Fleetwood is Harman’s closest challenger and made a charge from the pack later on in the day.

A birdie at the 15th moved the Englishman to six under, although a bogey at the next hole brought him back to five under with a score of 71 following a 66 on Thursday.

Australian Travis Smyth will not make the cut for the third round with a score of eight over, but was responsible for one of the day’s highlights with a hole in one at the 17th.