BBC Radio 5 live

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The aforementioned Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, first off this morning at 06:35 BST, finishes his second round on three over and hoping to make the cut.

He was playing well but ended up carding a 74 after a bogey on 16 and a double bogey on the par-three 17, a hole he eagled on Thursday.

"It's mega frustrating," he tells Radio 5 live. "I battled really well but then hit the worst shot I've hit in a while on 17. It was a shocker.

"I tried to stay positive, make what I could make and hopefully I can sneak in at the weekend but if not, so be it, because I've not played well enough.

"It felt that nearly every hole was into the wind and if it picks up this afternoon it will play really long."

Ken Brown is given a fright by Andrew 'Beef' Johnston as he checks out the bunkers surrounding the seventh hole at Royal Birkdale.

Confidence is oozing from Rory McIlroy's veins. He deftly splashes out of the greenside bunker on eight, ball floating out and dusting the putting surface before checking about three feet away from the hole.

Of course, he sinks it.

Richie Ramsay. Now there is a name that we have not typed too often. The Scot has a longish putt for a birdie two on the 12th, just coming up short.

The 34-year-old is two under after parring every hole so far today. Remarkable consistency.

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"Get down!" instructs Rory McIlroy. The four-time major winner attacks the eighth green with a mid iron, but he seems to have been deceived by the wind. His ball goes left and disappears. Think he's eating sand.

When I finally escaped the desk to grab some cornflakes, Rickie Fowler was going along crisply. Now he's gone soggier than my breakfast.

What's happened? Three bogeys in the past five holes have seen the American plummet.

Onto the eighth tee... Rory McIlroy rips his driver into position A, Dustin Johnson grimaces as he can't rotate cleanly through his swing, Charl Schwartzel darts off somewhere to the right.

While the world number one makes hard work of his three, Rory McIlroy hits the dancefloor with his tee-shot on the seventh. Again, he can't convert a tricky birdie putt, but will be more than content with a par.

The Northern Irishman bounds up the path to the eighth tee with that little bounce he has in his walk when things are going swimmingly.

Dustin Johnson is hanging in there. Another green missed on the par-three seventh, another par rescued with a tidy dink. Is that back injury still bothering him? Doesn't look completely at ease.

Lee Westwood's grin is wider than the Ribble Estuary. He's just knocked in for an eagle on the fifth! The cheers that greet the Englishman's success can probably heard in the Ribble Estuary too. He's back level after moving one under today.

A touch downhill, a slight left to right. But only a few feet away. Rory McIlroy studies his birdie putt from every available angle, then trots up confidently to convert.

That's three birdies for the Northern Irishman today, lifting him to within three shots of the leaders. He's lurking...

Vassos Alexander
BBC Radio 5 live commentator at Royal Birkdale

I can't understand how a human being can drive a ball 350 yards into the centre of the fairway and into the teeth of a wind like this, but that's what Rory McIlroy has done on the sixth.

It's a par four hole, extremely difficult, but he put his second to three feet and has a putt for birdie.

This is an exhibition of how golf should be played.

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Carin Koch
Former European Solheim Cup captain on BBC Radio 5 live

You have to keep believing and then the putts can start dropping, you see the lines better and the holes start looking a bit bigger.

Oh Rory! Stop it. McIlroy stiffs a beauty of a second shot to three feet on the sixth. His fifth birdie putt of the day awaits...

Co-leader Matt Kuchar has turned into the back nine, lining up his second shot on 10. He hits the front edge, the ball hops forward then decides to do U-turn. Like a spider running up an ice slope, it can't cling on to the slope.

David Leadbetter
Leading golf coach on BBC Radio 5 live

It's a day for pars. The odd birdie is a bonus, but you have to keep patient. You can't go for too many flags in these conditions so you will have a lot of 30 or 40-yard putts.

Steve Hill: Looking forward to Alex Noren' s 2nd round. He really impressed yesterday. More luck with lipped out putts and he'd have led.

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Never mind the nearby Blackpool Pleasure Beach, if you want ups and downs today then head to Birkdale.

Ask Charl Schwartzel. After a birdie on four put him on a ladder into a share of lead, a double bogey on five slides him down a snake. The South African tugs his second shot left, his plugged ball needing a one-shot penalty drop.

Rory McIlroy pushes another birdie putt agonisingly left, while Dustin Johnson drops his first shot of the day.

No such luck for Phil Mickelson in the group Rory and co. Leftie bends his knees as he hopes to see his ball disappear, but it clips the lip and stays out. He taps in for a triple-bogey six on the par three. Ouch!

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You'll never guess what happened to Rory on the fourth green? He tapped in for the par.

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