Sawt Falasteen - Harman eagles 18th as he soars into lead at British Open

Harman shot to the top of the leaderboard during his second round at Royal Liverpool thanks to a clutch of early birdies, capping a bogey-free round with an eagle at the par-five 18th.

The world number 26 has never won a major but was sixth at last year's British Open at St Andrews and was joint runner-up at the US Open in 2017.

Harman started his second round on Friday one shot behind overnight leaders Christo Lamprecht, Tommy Fleetwood and Emiliano Grillo.

He surged into the lead thanks to long birdie putts at the second, third and fourth before his chip into the par-five fifth hit the flag to tee up a simple putt for a four.

A run of 12 consecutive pars followed before his spectacular eagle at the last.

The 36-year-old became the first player to post a clean round on Friday and, barring a collapse over the weekend, he will take some catching, with the pre-tournament favourites struggling to make an impact.

- McIlroy momentum fades -

Rory McIlroy got the crowd excited at the scene of his only British Open victory back in 2014 by moving to two under for the day and the tournament inside his first five holes.

The Northern Irishman benefited from the more forgiving bunkers on Friday after tournament organisers reacted to criticism from players that the sand traps were too tough during Thursday's opening round at Hoylake.

Greenkeeping staff were instructed to build up the edges to allow more balls to roll back into the centre of the bunkers.

However, McIlroy failed to build on his early momentum as he dropped shots at 10 and 15 to drop back to even par with three holes to play.

Masters champion Jon Rahm was one of those to take aim at the bunkers after his frustrating three-over-par opening round.

The Spaniard is at risk of missing the cut as he sat at the projected mark of two over with three holes to play.

South African amateur Lamprecht and Argentina's Grillo also fell back to leave home favourite Fleetwood out on his own in second place before the start of his round.

The Englishman, who hails from Southport, just 30 miles (48 kilometres) from Hoylake, will continue his quest for a first major title just before 1400 GMT.

World number Scottie Scheffler and five-time major winner Brooks Koepka will begin their second rounds at one under.

Defending champion Cameron Smith is at one over.

Travis Smyth struck the first hole in one at the newly remodelled 17th hole, but the Australian will miss the cut at eight over.

Climate protestors briefly disrupted play on Friday, setting off a smoke flare and throwing orange powder onto the course.

American golfer Billy Horschel intervened to help remove one demonstrator who invaded the 17th hole.

Police confirmed four people had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit criminal damage and public nuisance.

British golf's landmark tournament is the latest high-profile sporting event to be targeted by Just Stop Oil in recent weeks following interruptions at Wimbledon and during the second Ashes cricket Test at Lord's.

N.Shalabi--SF-PST