Day two digest: The Open Championship

Spectators made themselves heard on the second day of the 148th Open Championship as home hopes provided the entertainment.

Shane Lowry made a charge to the top of the leaderboard and will be in the final pairing on Saturday, while Rory McIlroy thrilled the crowd before his heroic effort at making the cut fell agonisingly short.

Here is everything you need to know from day two at Royal Portrush Golf Club.

Lowry lifted by loud crowd

Lowry whipped the crowd into a frenzy when he started his round with three straight birdies and by the time he made his sixth gain of the round on the tenth, you wouldn't be surprised if his ears were ringing. That left him with a two shot lead, but two bogeys late on saw him fall back to the same score as overnight leader JB Holmes. The duo have a one shot lead from English pair Tommy Fleetwood and Lee Westwood. But there's no doubting who the locals will be supporting.

McIlroy magic makes more noise

The spectators were just getting started with their support of Lowry. As Rory made his charge towards the unthinkable, the noise was deafening. McIlroy produced the best second round of his Major career and his second best Open round, but his six-under 65 left him two over for the tournament and one shot outside the cut. But for a few hours, Royal Portrush believed.

Crank up the volume....

Westwood's lucky caddie

Westwood and his partner Helen Storey do their walks together a little differently. Helen has been working as his caddie at a Major Championship for the first time in this week as Lee moved into contention with a blemish-free second round. “Helen said she’d love to do it and I said I’d love her to do it, so that was a very easy decision,” said Westwood. “It’s no mean feat carrying that golf bag around, especially in this weather, because it is fully loaded. I don’t give her an easy break or anything. She’s delighted to be caddying at a Major because she doesn’t have to rake the bunkers and get sand on her trainers! She doesn’t know too much about golf but she knows a lot about the way my mind works, so she keeps me in a good frame of mind, and keeps me focused on the right things at the right times. There’s more to caddying than working out the yardages and checking the wind. I enjoy doing all those things myself. I have to get things clear in my own mind. You’d be surprised the sorts of things we talk about out there; dinner, where we’re going to eat tonight, when we’re going on holiday – whether there’s a nail file in the bag!

Westwood at Calamity Corner

And the former World Number One was certainly hitting form as Helen watched on.

Hadwin's delightful dunk

Canadian Adam Hadwin knew he would need to produce something special on Friday to get his Open campaign back on track after posting an opening 74. And he did just that, following up birdies and the second and seventh with this spectacular eagle at the par four eighth...

Finau wants to thank his helper

Tony Finau wants to offer the person who found his ball a reward. The American's shot was well hidden in long grass and even when he had been shown where his ball was, Finau still struggled to find it. But the eye of a local saved him a drop.