Already the oldest winner in European Tour history, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez on Friday boosted his chances of becoming the oldest major champion as well in the 142nd Open Championship.
American Julius Boros has held that distinction since winning the US PGA Championship in 1968 aged 48, but thanks to a second round of 71 at fiery Muirfield, the 49-year-old Jimenez has a one-stroke lead ahead of a group of four that includes Tiger Woods and Lee Westwood.
Jimenez, who broke his leg in a skiing accident in December shortly after winning the Hong Kong Open aged 48 and 318 days, carded two birdies and two bogeys to finish three-under par, one ahead of England's Westwood, world No 1 Woods, Sweden's Henrik Stenson and Dustin Johnson of the United States.
First-round leader Zach Johnson shot a 75 and is two shots back.
"Of course I feel pressure, anything that is important to you makes you feel pressure, but as long as I can handle it there is no problem," said Jimenez who returned to action in the Spanish Open in April and finished fourth in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth five weeks later.
"I have been playing golf for 25 years and sometimes you think maybe it's too many, but it's okay."
Westwood said his two-under has set him up nicely for the weekend.
The 40-year-old Englishman finished with three bogeys in his last six holes but was far from disappointed with a 68.
When he knocked in a three-foot birdie - his sixth of the day - at the 12th he went to five under and into a share of the lead with American Zach Johnson, who had yet to tee off at that point.
Westwood may have fallen from that lofty perch fairly quickly but the Ryder Cup star was far from downhearted.
"I was pleased to be six-under through 12. I was playing some great stuff and it was just getting harder as the holes progressed, tougher to score, tougher to get it close," he said. "I was hitting the ball well, putting nicely. The golf course got really difficult and the finish is tough as 16, 17 and 18 are playing hard. We had an advantage [playing in the morning]. I'll kick back this afternoon on the couch and watch some struggles and the cricket."
Stenson shot 70 to improve his score by one and was relatively happy after struggles with his game in the past year.
"I'm up here and playing in a big tournament again. I think I've got the experience to do well in these championships," he said. "I'm very happy with the patience and then the mental balance that I've managed to keep these first two days.
"That's one of the secrets to do well in this game and especially these tournaments and I've done well so far. Tough conditions is something that I enjoy and suits my game, as well. I might still look for a bit more confidence and a bit more trust in my long game. I feel like I've been a bit wishy-washy these two days. But at times I've hit some nice ones and committed to some good shots as well.
"Obviously I would like to be the first Swede or Scandinavian to win a major. We've got some work to do before we talk about that. I'd rather talk about how that feels on Sunday, if it happens."
Woods has had that happen 14 times at majors but is trying to break a drought.
He is 0 for 16 at majors since the 2008 US Open. He missed four of those during that stretch recovering from injuries.
Darren Clarke, the surprise Open champion in 2011 but mostly an afterthought since then, had no trouble making birdies on the front side. He rolled in four of them. Unfortunately for him, all that good work was wiped out by one bad hole - a quadruple-bogey 8 at the sixth.
Clarke finished with a 71 and finds himself in good company at 143 after two rounds with 19-year-old Jordan Spieth, who became the US PGA Tour's youngest winner since 1931 when he won the John Deer Classic a week ago.
Rory McIlroy's carded a 79 and stands 13-over after two days, and another former world No 1, Luke Donald, backed up his opening round 73 with an 80 and a 10-over score that also leaves him with no chance to make the cut.
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