Ireland’s Des Smyth lost ground on the leaders in the US Senior Open at the Inverness Club, Toledo, Ohio, after a second round 74 saw him fall back to a share of 19th place as Argentina’s Vicente Fernandez took over at the top of the leaderboard.
Smyth was lying in a share of fifth place after the first day with one hole to complete after a thunderstorm caused play to be suspended but on returning to the course bogeyed the final hole and slipped further back during the second round to finish on five over par.
Fernandez however stromed through the field with a stunning seven under par 64, five shots better than any other round on the second day, to move to five under par and a shot clear of first round leader Tom Watson.
Spain’s Jose Maria Canizares is the leading European on four over par. John Bland, Seiji Ebihara and Gary Player also made the cut.