Centurion - Thriston Lawrence continued to lead the way as the top South African player at The Open with a second round one-under 71 at St Andrews on Thursday.

Lawrence held a share of 24th on four-under heading into the weekend, nine shots behind Australian leader Cameron Smith on 13-under. Smith led by two from Cameron Young, with Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy a further shot adrift in third on 10-under alongside Victor Hovland of Norway.

Lawrence, who qualified for the 150th Open Championship through his breakthrough victory in the Joburg Open in November last year, could not match his opening three-under 69 as he slipped 11 spots on the day. Still, he continues to impress in his first appearance at The Open.

Garrick Higgo and Dylan Frittelli were tied for 35th on three-under overall in a tie for 34th. Higgo moved up 19 positions on day two with a three-under 69, while Frittelli dropped nine places with a one-under 71.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout made the cut on the number in 66th place after he shot a one-under 71 to move to level par after two rounds. Dean Burmester also settled on even par with a second round one-over 73.

The quartet of Ernie Els (70 75), Justin Harding (74 71) and Louis Oosthuizen (71 74) and Zander Lombard (77 68) came up one shot short of making the weekend as they ended on one-over.

Shaun Norris finished three-over with rounds of 74 and 73 to finish on three-over, while amateur Aldrich Potgieter fired 74 and 75 to end a respectable major debut on a score of six-over.

@Golfhackno1

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