Richie Ramsay roars into contention in The Open

Richie Ramsay tee off in the second round of the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale. Picture: Getty Images

The Edinburgh-based Aberdonian backed up an opening 68 with a 70 in testing windy conditions at the Southport venue to sit on two-under-par.

At the time of finishing, he was sitting second in the clubhouse, two shots behind one of his playing partners over the opening two days, American Matt Kuchar.

“That’s some of the best golf I’ve played this year, maybe even the last few years,” said Ramsay, who is making his seventh appearance in the world’s oldest major.

“My irons in particular were exceptional today and, though I missed a few putts down the stretch, I holed a nice one at the 17th before a good lag at the last.”

The 34-year-old, who earned his spot in the field through tying for second in the Irish Open at Portstewart a fortnight ago, opened his second round with 12 straight pars.

His only dropped shot of the day came at the par-4 13th and he repaired that damage by rolling in a 15-footer at the 17th.

“I love being out there - it is brilliant,” added the three-time European Tour winner. “In addition to having Matt in our group, we had Rickie [Fowler], Adam [Scott] and Paul [Casey] in the group in front and the atmosphere around the greens was brilliant.”

Ramsay was the only player out of five Scots out in the morning to be sitting inside the projected cut mark of four-over after they’d finished their rounds.

David Drysdale was disappointed to drop shots at both the 16th and 17th in his 73, which left the former Dunbar assistant pro sitting on five-over.

Martin Laird was also left feeling down in the dumps after his good work in a promising 68 on Thursday was undone by an error-strewn 79.

Paul Lawrie, the 1999 champion, carded the same score to finish on nine-over alongside Drumoig amateur Connor Syme (76).