Dan Rapaport
American golf journalist on BBC Radio 5 Live

It just goes to show you that any hole on this front nine can become a ‘snowman’ [eight] - it can become a triple bogey. You hit one bad shot, you're off line, wind’s howling, you know that you’re not getting a downwind hole for another couple of hours.

It wears on you mentally and Rory is definitely weary right now and he’s going to have to play some fantastic golf to have any chance of sticking around.

Brian Harman lands his tee shot into a greenside bunker and goes on to register a third successive bogey.

Now five over, he needs to stop the bleeding quickly - or his Open defence could come to an end this evening...

Five-time Open winner Tom Watson, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, said a professional golfer's 'winning zone' was "around seven-to-eight years" when asked if he thought Rory McIlroy would win another major.

Now, we can all see Rory's having 'one of those weeks' but he did finish runner-up at last month's US Open and has been in contention lots in the past couple of years.

Let's see your thumbs, will Rory get to five? Up for yes, down for no.

It's a painful watch as Rory McIlroy plays a decent shot from the bunker to give himself a chance of only making a double bogey, then misses the putt from six feet and signs for an eight.

McIlroy drops back to 11 over and any hopes of making the cut now are surely gone.

Tyrrell Hatton also found some strife at the back of the green and takes seven.

Max Homa's par must feel like an eagle.

Richard Winton
BBC Scotland at Royal Troon

After spurning a decent birdie opportunity on 11, Justin Rose has a putt from a similar distance to save par on 12 after finding a greenside bunker.

Again the stroke isn’t quite good enough, and that’s his first bogey of the tournament after 30 holes.

Oh Rory - he's got an awful lie for his fifth and his bump-and-run absolutely flies into the bunker on the other side of the green.

That's another wonderful day's golf by Dan Brown, who goes round in a one-over 72 to follow yesterday's 65.

Brown is two shots off the lead and is sure to be out in one of the later groups on Saturday - a phenomenal performance on his Open debut.

We get to the fifth hole before Robert MacIntyre can celebrate a par - and it's worth celebrating as he finally ends this horrific start.

Tommy Fleetwood has gone birdie-bogey to end up back where he started the round while Jon Rahm pars the fifth to remain one over for his round.

Image source, PA Media

Rory McIlroy's fourth shot heads right, behind the group of fans watching beside the fourth green.

Will be lucky to escape with just a bogey from this one.

Rory McIlroy fans won't be pleased to read that he's in the rough from his tee shot on the fourth, and a hack with his second shot dribbles forward about 15 yards.

Three shots down, 166 yards to go to the flag.

You thought Robert MacIntyre's meltdown was bad...

Japan's Aguri Iwasaki is 17 over for his second round, and still has one hole left.

It started going really wrong at the 12th - over the course of three holes Iwasaki dropped 13 shots, including a nine on the par-three 14th!

Ouch.

Our defending champion is struggling a bit early in his second round.

Brian Harman found a fairway bunker with his second shot and had to play out sideways, then was off the mark with his approach to the green.

Two bogeys in a row for the American left-hander.

And on 18, that's a mammoth drive by Dan Brown - just a wedge at most to the final green.

His playing partner Denwit Boriboonsub is nearly up by the green on this 447-yard par four closer.

Graeme Storm
Two-time European Tour winner on BBC Radio 5 Live

When Dan Brown looks back, he’s got to take a lot of heart from it with the fact of how he’s stuck in there with some of the best players in the world of golf right now.

He’s played some great golf, and he’s got that to take into the weekend.

Shane Lowry's lead is back to two shots, as Dan Brown bogeys the par-three 17th.

His tee shot landed on the green and just kept on going, deep beyond the putting surface.

The par putt from 12 feet was pushed out right and Brown's back to five under with one hole left to play today.

Ludvig Aberg has a decent chance for birdie on the fourth but slides his attempt from 12 feet just by the edge of the hole.

A lot of pars from this group but they're pretty hard work in this wind.

Richard Winton
BBC Scotland at Royal Troon

After waiting for Jasper Stubbs to extricate himself from all sorts of mischief over by the train tracks, another decent birdie opportunity for Justin Rose.

Again the putt isn’t quite good enough, though.

That'll do nicely for Tyrrell Hatton!

The Englishman, who plays on the LIV Golf tour and tied for fifth when The Open was last played at Royal Troon, putts from off the back of the green and judges it perfectly. A nice little Brucie bonus.

As for Rory McIlroy, his par putt from 10 feet doesn't drop and that's a shot gone for the 2014 champion.

Image source, Getty Images

Justin Thomas finally finds a birdie as he's now gone from title contender to just trying to make the cut.

The wind has been a factor for all our later starters but he's just simply made too many mistakes - carding five bogeys in a row and six in total on his front nine.

Rory McIlroy flies one from the left rough over the back of the third green and into some wispy grass, where he's left with a tricky up-and-down for par.