The Open 2017: second round – live!

Official live leaderboard from Royal Birkdale
Small Talk: the legendary Gary PlayerPlaying Royal Birkdale is pain and pleasure wrapped into oneAnd feel free to email scott.murray@theguardian.com

9.49am BST

Sergio has parred 6, and called for the physio. Seems he’s hurt his right shoulder, not his wrist, in thrashing the shrub he only just extricated himself from at 4, a kind of reverse Basil Fawlty. Maybe he should have driven a car into it. A totally self-inflicted injury, the height of idiocy. For goodness sake, man! But look at it this way: at least it shows he still cares, and hasn’t put the feet up and cigar on after winning at Augusta. You’ve got to love Sergi... oh, he’s just sent his tee shot at the par-three 7th into a deep pot bunker to the right of the green. God speed, Sergio!

9.42am BST

No such bother for Matt Kuchar! He started slowly, but he’s clicked into gear now. An easy iron caressed into the heart of the par-three 4th, followed by a 30-foot birdie rake, and he’s the first man to reach the -6 mark this week, and the new leader of the Open! Good news for Joost Luiten, too. The 31-year-old Dutchman has missed the last three cuts at the Open, and has never finished higher than a tie for 45th. But he’s looking to improve on that ordinary record this week. Birdie at 4, to add to his blemish-free card of 68 yesterday, has lifted him steadily and surely to -3.

-6: Kuchar (4)
-5: Spieth, Koepka
-4: Schwartzel
-3: Connelly (10), Luiten (5), Hoffman (3), Cabrera-Bello, Poulter, Thomas, Bland

9.37am BST

The wind’s up, and scores are hard to come by. It’s been a grim morning for Martin Laird, who shot a two-under 68 yesterday but has come out misfiring: bogeys at 3, 6 and now 7, and he’s down to +1. Wise old Ernie Els, the 2002 and 2012 champion, bogeyed 2 to slip to -1, though he’s since steadied the ship with a string of pars through 7. Bernd Wiesberger shot 69 yesterday, but bogeys at 1 and 7 have dropped him to +1. Toby Tree, making his Open debut at 23, was going very nicely after a 70 yesterday and a birdie this morning at 4, but five bogeys in six holes have plunged him down the leader board to +4. And Adam Hadwin - who you may remember tying the US Open record for six consecutive birdies last month at Erin Hills - has just triple-bogeyed the deceptively pretty par-three 12th to crash down to +5.

9.26am BST

And it’s an eagle for Sergio, rolling one in from the fringe at the back of 5! He chanced his arm - quite literally, having jarred his right wrist on the previous hole - by taking driver, cutting the corner and going for the green. And he’s been rewarded big-time! He bounces back up the leader board to +2, and suddenly looks at ease with the world. The Masters champion not out of this yet. Another bogey for his partner Jason Day, though, a short par putt missed. He’s down to +1. And he’s alongside his compatriot Aaron Baddeley, who cards his second double-bogey of the day, this time at 6.

9.23am BST

Matt Kuchar returns to the top of the leader board! It looked unlikely when he flayed his drive dangerously close to a thicket down the left of 3, but a lucky bounce saw him on the cart path. An unfortunate bounce checked his second shot and stopped it reaching the green, but no matter: he lands his chip ten feet from the hole, whereupon it releases and glides into the cup along a beautiful right-to-left arc. He’s -5 again!

9.19am BST

A gorgeous long bumped wedge from the back of 2 by Charley Hoffman, perfectly judged from the best part of 100 feet. It curls right to left and stops an inch from the hole. He stays at -3. A less pleasant chip from Sergio on 4. He’s hit his tee shot near the bushes at the back of the par-three, and looks to have hurt his right wrist upon punching it back out of trouble. His ball doesn’t even get onto the green, and that’s a bogey that drops the Masters champion back to +4. But he then drives his ball through the green on the short par-four 5th, and picks up his tee with that supposedly wounded paw, so hopefully that was just a stinger and there’s no lasting damage.

9.15am BST

A proper old-school yip by Adam Scott on 3, a par putt missed from two feet. That was genuinely abysmal, and it drops him back to level par. Paul Casey then pushes an even shorter one right of the cup, and that’s back-to-back bogeys. A very unhappy birthday so far, and he trudges off the green in those shoes with “40” written on the heels; it’s almost as though he’s putting too much pressure on himself. He falls to -2. Solid par for Rickie Fowler, who stays at +1. And a birdie for Aaron Baddley, who has had an eventful morning so far, at 5. He moves back to -1.

9.08am BST

One of the co-leaders, Matt Kuchar, is out. He pars the opening hole with ease, though he’s in a bit of bother down 2, having driven into deep, deep rough down the right, the long grass grabbing the hosel of his club when he tries to hack out of it. He’s well short of the green, and left with a difficult chip over a bunker, the green behind it warped like an LP left out in the sun. He does very well to bump his ball up to 15 feet. But the par putt slides by on the right. No escape. He falls off the top of the leader board, back to -4. A pair of opening pars meanwhile for his partner Richie Ramsay, who stays at -2.

-5: Spieth, Koepka
-4: Kuchar (2), Schwartzel
-3: Connelly (8), Casey (2), Hoffman (1), Cabrera-Bello, Poulter, Thomas, Bland

8.58am BST

BREAKING NEWS: The lower section of one of the Open’s iconic yellow scoreboards has been closed “due to nesting bird”. Ah the unique bucolic delights of the Open Championship. Compare and contrast to Croc v Snake at the 2012 PGA. Hey, golf’s a world game, and a broad church.

8.53am BST

Another fine par for Austin Connelly, whose tee shot at 7 unluckily bounded straight right off the green and into sand. A delicate splash to a couple of feet, and that’s a wonderful up and down. He remains at -3, and it looks as though golf has another hot young talent on its hands. They just keep on coming. As for poor Paul Casey, twice Connelly’s age, a shot goes at 2, the result of a poor drive down the left, a second sent into sand, and a short splash out. He’s back to -3. Pars for Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler, the former a good scramble after playing the hole poorly, Fowler a miserable birdie miss after a glorious drive and easy wedge to eight feet.

8.46am BST

A solid start this morning by Austin Connelly, the 20-year-old Open debutant. Six pars in a row for Jordan Spieth’s good friend, born in Dallas, Texas but representing Canada. A lovely up and down from the side of 6, chipping delicately from a tight lie to a couple of feet. But the wind is otherwise causing a bit of bother so far. There are only two players under par for their round so far today: Zach Johnson, who has birdied 2 to move to +4, and Tyrrell Hatton, who bogeyed 1, but holed out from a bunker at 2 and has followed that up with another birdie at 3. He’s +4 as well. Aaron Baddeley was under par for his round after an opening-hole birdie, but the 3rd became a world of pain as he hacked his way down the left. He couldn’t get up and down from the wrong side of a cart path, and a double crashes him down to level par.

8.40am BST

♫ Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Paul Casey, happy birthday to yo-o-o-oooou ♪ The English nearly man, 40 today, clatters his opening drive on top of the grassy mound to the left of the 1st. His second is arrowed straight at the flag, but there’s no spin on the ball from the rough, and he’s got a 25mph wind coming behind him. So that one’s through and over the green. His partners Adam Scott and Rickie Fowler just about hold the putting surface with their approaches. All three will be coming at the hole from the back of the green. And all are a wee bit short with their birdie efforts. Casey, Scott and Fowler are -4, -1 and +1 respectively.

8.24am BST

A miserable 75 for the 2015 champ Zach Johnson yesterday. He nearly starts his second round in depressing fashion, too, fluffing a pitch from the back of the 1st green. But he trundles in a 20-foot par saver, and stays at +5. A big smile as he departs the scene of the smash-and-grab. Pars too for his partners Jason Day, wearing more conventional shoes by the looks of it, as opposed to the ones he bought off Jimmy from Seinfeld, and Sergio Garcia, neither quite hitting long birdie putts. They’re -1 and +3 respectively.

8.16am BST

Andrew Johnston hit the first shot of the second day’s play. It was a marked improvement on the 1998 champion Mark O’Meara’s effort yesterday, staying within the bounds of Royal Birkdale. A par, and then another four, before a short second into the difficult 6th was followed up by a weak putt. Bogey, and then a second timid three-putt bogey at the par-three 7th. He’s suddenly dropped to +1 for the tournament. Beef’s out and about with 2004 winner Todd Hamilton, who is now propping up the entire field. He shot 79 yesterday, and has already carded four bogeys today, at 1, 2, 5 and now 7. He’s +13. O’Meara, who ended up with an 81 yesterday, is out just before midday, and will be hoping to get round before the worst of the weather comes in. The battle to avoid last place will be grimly fascinating.

8.12am BST

Something to clear up from last night, regarding Jon Rahm, who’ll be out this morning with a view to bothering the upper reaches of the leader board. He hit an astonishing shot last night from the rough down the left of 17. Powering out, it looked like he’d sent his ball towards the bunker front right, but instead of going in, the cheeky little dappled orb traversed the rim of the trap, right to left, and was thrown on the green and towards the hole by the shoulder. It set up what looked like a birdie. But then confusion reigned, as initially he was put down for a double-bogey seven, then a six. Turns out he’d moved a thorny plant, assuming it was loose, only to find it was attached some three feet away. The rules official gave him a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie - but after some discussion moving forward, also involving his playing partner Lee Westwood, Rahm’s innocence was decided upon, and the penalty lifted. Rahm of course was involved in a ball-marking brouhaha at the Irish Open, where he again got the benefit of the doubt. And Westwood was a bystander during the Dustin Johnson ball-oscillating brouhaha at the US Open last year. Small world, golf. Anyway, Rahm ended up carding a birdie, he’s -1 going into the second round, and we all move on.

8.05am BST

The weather is likely to be a huge factor today, to the probable advantage of the earlier starters. So that’s good news for, say, Rory McIlroy if he wants to haul himself back into this championship. But not so good for Jordan Spieth, who shot a faultless 65 yesterday, but is likely to cop for some high wind and heavy rain. That doesn’t mean the morning starters have it all their own way: south-easterlies of 10mph could rise as much as 35mph at times. But the lads out later will be dealing with 20mph to 40mph, with increasing chances of heavy rain, especially after 4pm. That’s not going to be particularly fair on Spieth or Brooks Koepka; Matt Kuchar on the other hand will be thanking his lucky stars. You’d take your chances with an early start all right.

2.46pm BST

Good morning! No need for preambles, let’s just get down to business, with the wind and rain expected to play a big part in today’s narrative, possibly to the cost of the later starters. More of that anon. Meanwhile, here’s how we stood after the first day’s play:

-5: Spieth, Koepka, Kuchar
-4: Casey, Schwartzel
-3: Poulter, Thomas, Bland, Connelly, Hoffman , Cabrera-Bello

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