Lucas Herbert holds a two-shot lead at The 154th Open after he and Sam Burns matched the lowest round in Major Championship history during an enthralling second round at Royal Birkdale.
The Australian appeared set to become the first man to card a 61 in one of golf’s four marquee events, but he missed a five-foot par putt on the last.
Remarkably, just twenty minutes or so later, American Burns holed out from a greenside bunker to also record an eight-under-par round of 62.
Herbert and Burns joined South Africa's Branden Grace as the only player to shoot a 62 at the Open, which also came at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
American trio Jackson Suber, who held the lead after the first round, Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard are in a group two shots adrift of Herbert.
Bryson DeChambeau appeared to have played his way into the final group on Saturday but he was assessed a two-shot penalty for inadvertently improving the area of his intended swing ahead of his second shot at the fifth hole.
As a result, it meant the American carded a second-round 68 which moved him to five under in a share of fifth place alongside countryman Burns and South Korea's Si Woo Kim.
Earlier in the day, in relatively benign conditions, on a course playing firm and fast, Herbert covered the front nine in just 28 strokes, equalling Denis Durnian’s 1983 Open record, to get to six under and came home in 33.
"I'm absolutely disappointed, and at the same time, so proud of today," said Herbert.
"Very, very proud to put my name on that list of guys that have shot 62 in a major championship.
"So it's kind of holding two emotions there at the same time. It's a tricky one, and I'm sure once the dust settles, I'll be able to sort of decompress it a little bit."
Burns, who began his day at three over, took the opposite route to his bogey-free 62.
Runner-up at last month’s U.S. Open, he birdied the second and fourth, before finding incredible form on the back nine as he made six birdies to come home in 30.
"I didn't know 62 was the record. I had no idea," said Burns.
He later admitted to just being happy to be in the field at Birkdale after making a late decision to make the trip to Merseyside after the birth of his second child, Belle, earlier this month.
"I thought there was zero per cent chance of playing," said Burns.
"My agent said 'I'm going to sign you up just in case', but I thought I was probably not going to be able to play.
"Then we ended up having her on July 3. Even then, I still wasn't expecting to play by any means. I had a bunch of conversations with my wife, and she encouraged me to come over and play, and here we are."
Links newcomer Suber, who is playing for the first time this week in Europe, followed up a 65 with a creditable 69.
After a birdie at the second, he bogeyed his final three holes of the front nine, but showed resolve to mix four birdies with a bogey to remain in the hunt for a surprise victory.
World Number Four Young, who won this year's Players Championship and finished second at The Open in 2022, is also chasing a first major triumph and birdied his final two holes in a 67.
That was the same score Gerard as he mixed five birdies with two bogeys to continue his impressive debut appearance at the final men's major of the year.
English trio Tommy Fleetwood, Matt Wallace and Alex Fitzpatrick are in a nine-strong group of players at four under, alongside defending champion Scottie Scheffler, 2018 Open champion Francesco Molinari, two-time major winner Jon Rahm, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre, Belgium's Thomas Detry and Bud Cauley of the United States.
The cut fell at one over, with major champions Aaron Rai, Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Rose, Wyndham Clark and Cameron Smith among some of the notables to miss out on the weekend.
