Aussies struggle on day two at Open

Adam Scott tees off during the second round of the the Open Championship at Muirfield. Source: ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP

AUSTRALIA'S British Open hopes took a hit as Adam Scott lost ground with an underwhelming start to his second round at Muirfield.

Scott, who led a 12-strong Australian contingent into day two after an even-par opening round, dropped two shots through the front nine of his second round.

In failing to make the most of favourable morning conditions, it put Scott seven shots behind overnight leader Zach Johnson, who was due to commence his round later on Friday.

Another Australian, Marcus Fraser, had stormed into contention earlier on Friday by getting to three-under par for the day and one under overall.

However the Victorian suffered a dramatic back nine collapse, losing six shots in the last six holes, to finish with a disappointing 74 and facing a nervous wait to make the cut at four over.

Scott and Fraser were among a host of players who had to contend with brutally quick conditions on a sun-baked Muirfield course on Thursday afternoon.

They had been hoping to make the most of calmer conditions and softer greens, which had been watered overnight.

Under sunny Scottish skies, Masters champion Scott looked strong early on Friday, getting up and down for par on the first hole with a sublime chip.

However bogeys at the fourth and sixth holes saw him drop back through the pack.

Scott is looking to make amends for his dramatic late collapse at the 2012 event, where he effectively handed victory to South African Ernie Els.

Having since captured his first major title at Augusta in April, Scott stepped on to the first tee on Thursday already feeling like a weight had lifted off his shoulders.

However he still remains hungry to lift the Claret Jug and atone for last year's disaster.

"It's a little easier to perform having won a major now but I still haven't won the Open and I'd dearly love to," Scott said after his opening round.

Fraser was gutted after his second round, feeling he had played some of his best golf but had been cruelled by several instances of bad luck.

"I felt like I played pretty well all day and then just got completely shafted a few times," Fraser said.

"Now we'll wait and see if it gets through to the weekend."

Australians Jason Day (two over), Peter Senior and John Wade (both three over) were to commence their second rounds on Friday afternoon.

Geoff Ogilvy and Marc Leishman were struggling early on Friday and looked likely to miss the cut.

With American leader Johnson teeing off in the afternoon, England's Lee Westwood was the big mover of the morning, with a four-under front nine moving him to within a shot of the lead.

Tiger Woods remained in the hunt at two-under midway through his round.

AAP lf/gc

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