5 SA golfers make Open Championship cut with Lawrence best-placed

Five of the 11 South Africans, who started the 150th Open Championship at St Andrews, made the cut for the weekend at this year's final major on Friday.

Thriston Lawrence is the best-placed South African as he sits tied for 25th -  nine shots adrift from halfway leader Cameron Smith of Australia.

Lawrence made five birdies and four bogeys to card a one-under 71 to sit on four-under in Scotland.

Tied for 36th at three-under par is South Africa duo Dylan Frittelli and Garrick Higgo.

Olympian Higgo fired four consecutive birdies at the Old Course but made two bogeys on the final holes to post a 3-under 69. Meanwhile, Frittelli, who finished fifth-place finish at last year's Open Championship at Royal St George's, carded a one-under 71 in his second round.

With the cut set at even-par, South Africa's Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Dean Burmester made their way into the weekend as they sit tied for 66th.

Bezuidenhout fought for a one-under 71, while Burmester sank a birdie on the final hole to make the cut as they sit on even-par.

Two-time Open winner Ernie Els, 2010 Open Championship winner at St Andrews Louis Oosthuizen, Justin Harding and Zander Lombard missed the cut by one stroke as they ended their tournament on one-over-par.

Meanwhile, Shaun Norris (3-over) and amateur Aldrich Potgieter (6-over) also failed the weekend cut.

South Africa's Erik van Rooyen withdrew from the Open before the opening round due to a neck injury.

In other news, Collin Morikawa becomes the first defending champion to miss the cut at The Open since Darren Clarke in 2012.

Collated second round scores in the 150th British Open on the Old Course at St Andrews on Friday (GBR/IRL unless stated; Par 72):

131 - Cameron Smith (AUS) 67-64

133 - Cameron Young (USA) 64-69

134 - Viktor Hovland (NOR) 68-66, Rory McIlroy 66-68

135 - Dustin Johnson (USA) 68-67

136 - Tyrrell Hatton 70-66, Scottie Scheffler (USA) 68- 68

137 - Patrick Cantlay (USA) 70-67, Talor Gooch (USA) 68-69, Adam Scott (AUS) 72-65, Sahith Theegala (USA) 69-68

138 - Barclay Brown 68-70, Matthew Fitzpatrick 72-66, Lucas Herbert (AUS) 70-68, Sadom Kaewkanjana (THA) 71-67, Kim Si-woo (KOR) 69-69, Min-Woo Lee (AUS) 69-69

139 - Abraham Ancer (MEX) 71-68, David Carey 72-67, Thomas Detry (BEL) 70-69, Yuto Katsuragawa (JPN) 71-68, Xander Schauffele (USA) 69-70, Lee Westwood 68- 71, Aaron Wise (USA) 72-67

140 - Nicolai Hoejgaard (DEN) 73-67, Brad Kennedy (AUS) 68-72, Kim Joo-hyung (KOR) 69-71, Thriston Lawrence (RSA) 69-71, Shane Lowry 72-68, Victor Perez (FRA) 71-69, Jon Rahm (ESP) 73-67, Patrick Reed (USA) 72-68, Jordan Spieth (USA) 71-69, Harold Varner III (USA) 73-67, Will Zalatoris (USA) 73-67

141 - Sam Burns (USA) 72-69, Filippo Celli (ITA) 74-67, Tommy Fleetwood 72-69, Dylan Frittelli (RSA) 70-71, Sergio Garcia (ESP) 75-66, Brian Harman (USA) 73-68, Garrick Higgo (RSA) 72-69, David Law 72-69, Ian Poulter 69-72, Kurt Kitayama (USA) 68-73

142 - Laurie Canter 72-70, Corey Conners (CAN) 71-71, Russell Henley (USA) 70-72, Billy Horschel (USA) 73-69, Jason Kokrak (USA) 72-70, Thomas Pieters (BEL) 75-67, Justin Thomas (USA) 72-70, Cameron Tringale (USA) 71-71, Danny Willett 69-73

143 - Marcus Armitage 71-72, Paul Casey 71-72, Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 69-74, Chris Kirk (USA) 75-68, Hideki Matsuyama (JPN) 71-72, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 75-68, Joaquin Niemann (CHI) 69-74, John Parry 69-74, Anthony Quayle (AUS) 74-69, Jamie Rutherford 73-70, Jason Scrivener (AUS) 72-71

144 - Adria Arnaus (ESP) 74-70, Sam Bairstow 72-72, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (RSA) 73-71, Dean Burmester (RSA) 71-73, Wyndham Clark (USA) 71-73, Justin de Los Santos (USA) 71-73, Robert Dinwiddie 67-77, Tony Finau (USA) 73-71, Im Sung-jae (KOR) 71-73, Aaron Jarvis (CAY) 75-69, Kevin Kisner (USA) 74-70, Robert MacIntyre 70-74, Richard Mansell 73-71, Francesco Molinari (ITA) 73-71, Sebastian Munoz (COL) 73-71, Jordan Smith 73-71, Lars van Meijel (NED) 74-70, Trey Mullinax (USA) 71-73