Simon Dyson seeking midway cut at The Open (From York Press)

Simon Dyson seeking midway cut at The Open

10:34am Friday 20th July 2012 in Golf

DESPITE being confronted by the most testing conditions of the opening day at The Open Championship, York’s golf star Simon Dyson put himself in with a chance of making the midway cut.

Dyson went into today’s second round half-way down the field after posting a two-over par 72 at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

However, with a collection of stellar names all posting worthy under-par scores the 34-year-old faces a severe battle to get into the more challenging places on the leaderboard.

The earliest weather at the course on the Lancashire coast proved to be the most benign with barely any wind or rain.

But by the time Dyson started the conditions had deteriorated, the wind picking up to increase the difficulty of the inward nine.

The world number 48, whose previous best showing at The Open was a superb ninth place 12 months ago at Royal St Georges, fired off a brace of pars before bagging his first birdie of the day with a three on the third hole.

More pars followed as Dyson settled into a smooth gear, but his Lytham rhythm was undermined at the eighth, where Dyson went into deficit courtesy of a deadening double-bogey six.

A run of pars returned only for the arrears to increase with another dropped shot on the par-three 12th hole.

The Malton & Norton GC ace remedied his round with only his second birdie of the day collected on the par-four 16th. But hopes of a final flourish were dashed with another bogey on the very next hole, which spiralled him more than 20 places down the leaderboard.

The outright leader was Australia’s Adam Scott, who benefited from the kinder conditions to rack up an early six-under-par 64.

Three players trail Scott by one shot – Scotsman Paul Lawrie, who won The Open 13 years ago, America’s Zach Johnson and Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts.

Among the pack of players grouped on three-under-par are no fewer than five major winners – Ernie Els, Bubba Watson, Graeme McDowell, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.