The current cut line (see 12:14 BST) means England's Marco Penge should make the weekend of an Open Championship for the first time in four attempts.

Penge started the day at two over but has improved his position to one under, despite a couple of bogeys towards the end of his front nine.

Catriona Matthew
Captain of Team Europe at the 2019 & 2021 Solheim Cup on BBC Radio 5 Live

Bob MacIntyre has been close before and we saw him nearly get over the line at the US Open at Oakmont last year.

Since the Ryder Cup in Paris, Bob has excelled and really moved to the upper level of the sport.

He'll be coming in here thinking he's got a really good chance.

Very shortly, Scotland's Robert MacIntyre will be setting off for his second round.

He was a satisfied man after carding a three-under 67 on Thursday

Textbook birdie on the par-five 17th by Jackson Suber, hitting the fairway then the green then getting down in two from 60 feet away for his four.

That moves him to within one of the flying Lucas Herbert, although who knows what score the Australian will finish on.

Shaun Norris has steadied the ship after three straight bogeys saw him slip out of a great position - but he's still just about in touch.

Jonathan Jurejko
BBC Sport golf reporter at Royal Birkdale

The most popular part of the course right now is probably the eighth green and ninth tee.

Thousands are congregated here as they watch some of the early marquee groups - Lowry, Rai and Koepka, followed by Aberg, with McIlroy and Fitzpatrick to come - pass through.

The most adventurous fans scale the Birkdale dunes like mountain goats. Those who can’t get so high get a better view through their binoculars.

Image source, Getty Images

With all this positive scoring, we're reaching that point where some of the world's best will be anxiously eyeing the cut line.

At the moment, top 70 and ties takes us to +1 so Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy in serious danger of missing the weekend.

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Collin Morikawa is now within touching distance of the lead after finishing the back nine with a birdie.

The American bangs a drive in the region of 250 yards right down the middle of the fairway then a brilliant iron leaves him just over 15 feet from the pin.

Morikawa steadies himself before carefully caressing the ball into the cup.

He is now two shots behind Lucas Herbert.

Cameron Young is heading in the right direction now after a second birdie of the day at the eighth moves him to four under for the tournament and one under for the round.

Ludvig Aberg just hits a bit of a speed bump though as a par putt just takes a late dive to the right and stays out, meaning he drops back to one under.

Goodness me, Lucas Herbert can do no wrong at the moment!

In goes the birdie putt on the 12th and he's eight under for the day.

That record for the lowest round ever in a men's major is really under threat now.

Still no good news for Rory McIlroy or Matt Fitzpatrick.

McIlroy - starting to look a bit despondent again - comes up short with a lengthy birdie effort while Fitzpatrick drops another shot after missing the green at the par-three.

Xander Schauffele is playing par golf. He's had seven of them.

Kristoffer Reitan's had a year to remember, becoming just the second Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour when he clinched the Truist Championship in May.

He finished tied 30th on his Open debut at Portrush last year and is hoping to improve on that here.

And shots like that will help! An absolutely spectacular effort from the thick rough at the 10th sets up a tap-in birdie and he moves under par for the day.

Leader Lucas Herbert gives himself a chance for ANOTHER birdie on the par-three 12th, his tee shot coming to rest about 12-15 feet from the hole.

The two par fives on the course are still to come, as well.

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We've got four Americans and one Australian in the current top six at the Open Championship.

And it's no surprise to see as we've had four Americans and one Australian win the last five Claret Jugs, while at Royal Birkdale nine of the 10 Opens held at the Southport venue have been won by the USA or Australia.

The only other Open victory went to Ireland's Padraig Harrington - and it looks like the USA and Australia could have this one covered again.

Aaron Rai with a glimmer of a birdie chance at the seventh hole with a putt from eight or nine feet.

However, there's not quite enough power and it comes up short.

Pars all round as Shane Lowry and Brooks Koepka both tap in.

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Nine feet for birdie for leader Lucas Herbert. Tucked away.

Branden Grace's record of 62 (eight under par) from 2017 around here is very much in play right now.

Herbert seven under par through 11 holes.

Bud Cauley makes a birdie on the 10th and he joins the group on five under just behind the leader. We shouldn't really be surprised should we as Americans have a great record in The Open with four wins in the past five.

We've seen a few players light up the front nine this morning, but this group are yet to catch fire.

Xander Schauffele makes his sixth straight par at the difficult par-four sixth, but the European Ryder Cup stars are in trouble.

Rory McIlroy missed the fairway right, the green left and was careless with his chip. Yet another putt stays above ground - from 10 feet this time - so he drops back to two over, level for the round.

Matt Fitzpatrick caught a nasty flyer from the rough with his second and it's all a bit untidy from there, but he holes a six-footer to avoid a double bogey.

McIlroy and Fitzpatrick are currently outside the projected cut mark. Not good.

Pretty gymnastic this from Matt Wallace.

And he got it up and down. Lovely way to finish at the 18th.

Thumbs up if you reckon you could pull this move off.

Image source, Getty Images

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

Matt Wallace has been speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live after shooting a three-under 67: "After seeing what was produced yesterday morning, we knew if we had a decent round yesterday we'd get out early and have similar conditions. The course was perfect!

"I think this golf course plays so well. If you hit decent shots, you'll be rewarded. That's why everyone really likes it. The eighth hole is difficult but if you hit a good tee shot, you'll have six or a seven iron in.

"I was frustrated with the par fives - I was in a good position for both but didn't make a birdie. But it's tough, you expect that at The Open and I'm glad I came out with less bogeys at the end."

After his frantic run of birdies, Lucas Herbert finally misses a lengthy putt as his 22-footer for birdie grazes the edge of the cup.

He twirls his putter with a tinge of frustration. That was close.

Just staying one in front.