Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington tee times for round 3 of The Open

Five years on from his glorious success at Royal Portrush, Shane Lowry once again finds himself firmly in the hunt at the Open Championship.

Lowry holds a two-shot lead from Justin Rose at the halfway stage at Royal Troon, having followed up his an excellent opening 66 with a solid 69 in his second round to leave himself perched at the top of the leaderboard on nine-under par.

The Offaly man holds a two-shot lead from both Rose and surprise package Daniel Brown, and Lowry will tee-off alongside Brown on Saturday, getting his third round under way at 3.45pm.

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Lowry was in flying form after his second round, and when asked whether he excelled as a front-runner in tournaments, the 2019 Champion Golfer of the year replied: "I wouldn't say I'm a good runner."

He continued: "I don't know. I put myself there in a few big tournaments, and I've managed to knock them off. So I've done it a few times. I don't know. It's hard to win tournaments. We'll see. I'll tell you Sunday evening."

Padraig Harrington
(Image: Pedro Salado/Getty Images)

While Lowry leads the way, he isn't the only Irishman involved at the weekend as two-time winner Padraig Harrington made the cut with rounds of 72 and 73. He will play alongside Eric Cole and will tee-off at 1.20pm on Saturday.

Tom McKibbin (12:55pm) and Darren Clarke (9:35am) are also in action on Saturday.

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