The 150th Open: Rory McIlroy targets end to major drought as Cameron Smith aims for St Andrews win
Rory McIlroy is in tied-third on 10 under alongside Viktor Hovland, while Cameron Smith leads the way on 13 under; watch The 150th Open throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports' dedicated Open channel
By Ali Stafford and Cameron Hogwood at St Andrews
Last Updated: 16/07/22 10:18am
Rory McIlroy feels he is in a great position to end his long major drought after staying within three strokes of halfway leader Cameron Smith at The 150th Open.
McIlroy, who missed his Open title defence through injury when it was last held at St Andrews' historic Old Course in 2015, followed an opening-round 66 with a four-under 68 on Friday to head into the weekend tied-third alongside Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland.
The Northern Irishman, without a major victory since 2014, followed a front-nine 35 by making three consecutive birdies from the 10th and then failing to make another at the par-five 14th despite reaching the green in two.
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McIlroy responded to a three-putt bogey at the 15th by birdieing his penultimate hole, although he failed to find another at the last to remain on 10 under and three behind Smith.
"I'm picking holes in everything and walking off thinking I could have been a couple better, but I'm in a great position going into the weekend," McIlroy told Sky Sports.
"Cam Smith has been playing well this year and so has Cameron Young. Both phenomenal players; a great leaderboard with DJ (Dustin Johnson) and Viktor Hovland there. It's going to be a great weekend and it is nice to be in the mix."
McIlroy has finished no worse than eighth in the first three majors of the year and is already a two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season, most recently at the RBC Canadian Open last month, with the 33-year-old confident about the state of his game heading into the weekend.
"I know I've got the game, that's all I need," McIlroy added. "I just need to go out and play my game and play my golf over the next two days and that's all I can do.
"Cam Smith goes out and shoots another two rounds like he did the first two days, I'm going to have a really hard time to win the tournament. So I've just got to go out and do the best I can and worry about myself, then hopefully that's good enough."
Smith: I've got to be patient
Smith vowed to stick to his self-admitted "boring" approach to golf as he heads into day three looking to retain his place at the top of The Open leaderboard.
That being the same measured round-by-round composure which paved the way to him earning a two-stroke lead at 13 under on Friday.
The Players Championship winner is aiming to become the first Australian to clinch The Open title since 1993.
"It's good. It's obviously a really good spot to be in," he said. "I feel like I've been in this spot a lot over the past couple of years, and things just haven't quite gone my way yet.
"But, like I said before, I've just got to be really patient over the weekend. I think the golf course is going to get a lot harder and a lot faster.
"So just be patient and make good putts."
Smith started the day emphatically with three straight birdies followed by three gains in four holes between the seventh and 10th, before his highlight came at the 14th when he holed for a sublime eagle from 64 feet.
Much had been said leading into the event about how tailored the Old Course was to Smith's short game expertise. As much has been evident, and Smith hopes as much will remain evident.
"I think I've always done a pretty good job of just treating every round the same, to be honest," he continued.
"I think it's going to be a really cool experience being out there. It has been this whole week.
"But I've always done a really good job of just doing the same thing, going through the same process every morning, making sure I feel the same - get on the range, hit the same shots. It's very boring, but it does the trick."
Watch The 150th Open throughout the weekend live on Sky Sports' dedicated channel - Sky Sports The Open. Live at The Range, Featured Holes and Featured Groups will be available via the red button on Sky Sports The Open, along with the Sky Sports website and app.
