Smyth birdies his way to Senior British lead

Gullane, Scotland (Sports Network) - Ireland's Des Smyth birdied his final four holes on Friday to move into sole possession of the lead after two rounds of the Senior British Open Championship.
He posted his second consecutive one-under 70 and is in the lead at two-under- par 140.
Muirfield showed its teeth on Friday as not one player in the 142-man field broke 70. One player shot a 90 and only five golfers are under par through 36 holes thanks to heavy winds.
Gordon Brand Jr., one of the first-round co-leaders, shot a two-over 73 and is tied for second place with 2002 Senior Players Champion Stewart Ginn (70), two-time champion Tom Watson (71) and the player who lost in a playoff here last year, Eduardo Romero (71). The group came in at minus-one.
Nick Faldo, who grabbed a piece of the first-round lead in his Champions Tour debut on Thursday, struggled a bit on Friday with the putter. He only managed a three-over 74 and is tied for sixth place at even-par 142.
"You try and play the best you can," said Faldo, who won two claret jugs at Muirfield. "It felt like I made bogeys everywhere. If I can get the right attitude, who knows what can happen."
Perhaps the biggest indicator of how difficult Muirfield was on Friday came in the picture of the third first-round leader, Nick Job.
The Englishman recorded a nine on the par-three 13th, notched a triple-bogey, double-bogey, five bogeys and two birdies on Friday. All tallied, Job shot a 14-over 85 and missed the cut by two at plus-11.
Smyth, a two-time winner on the Champions Tour in 2005, certainly did not look like the man who would be atop the leaderboard early in Friday's second round.
He bogeyed the third, a hole he birdied on Thursday, then bogeyed the 10th. Smyth's third bogey of the round came at the 14th and that put him at two-over for the championship.
Things turned at the 15th when he recorded his first birdie. Smyth ran home a 12-foot birdie putt at the 16th and made it three in a row with a tap-in birdie at the par-five 17th.
Smyth broke free of the pack thanks to a spectacular six-iron approach to the last. His ball stopped 18 feet left of the hole and the Irishman drained the putt for the 36-hole lead.
"I hit a purple patch down the stretch that changed the whole day really," said Smyth. "Conditions were very difficult. I was delighted personally and for the Irish people that Padraig won last week, but I will only think about an Irish double if I am still there when we go down the last nine holes on Sunday."
More important than Smyth collecting his first major trophy on the elder circuit, he needs a good finish just to keep his card on the Champions Tour. He only notched two top 10s in 2007 and knows a big week would be a relief.
"Obviously I would love to win but whatever happens I need a good result because of the way I have played all year on the Champions Tour," admitted Smyth. "I only have two top 10s and I am worried about keeping my card. I need a big result somewhere along the line and this could be the place to do it."
Brad Bryant, the reigning U.S. Senior Open champion, shot an even-par 71 and is tied for 10th with Lonnie Nielsen (74), 1998 British Open winner Mark O'Meara (71), John Ross (72) and Senior PGA Champion Denis Watson (74). The group came in at plus-one.
Dave Stockton, the final co-leader from Thursday, struggled to a five-over 76 and is tied for 15th at two-over par.
Defending champion Loren Roberts played the back nine in three-under 32 and finished two rounds in a tie for 25th at plus-four.
Among the other notable players to miss the cut include Peter Jacobsen (152), Mike Reid (152) and Wayne Grady (153).