Local hope Tommy Fleetwood will make up the final twoball pairing on Saturday after battling his way to a level-par 71 to sit on five-under.
The Englishman was part of the early wave on Thursday and he blitzed his way into the Championship with a back nine of 32. This was a very different affair, finishing well after 8pm as the temperatures dropped over the closing holes.
Not a lot was happening over the front nine and then he kicked off the run home with a 60-footer at the 10th and then dug deep to stay at five-under, helped by back-to back birdies at 14 and 15, going into what promises to be a very wet Saturday at Hoylake.
"It turned into a grind in the end. I actually think for the most part of the round I actually felt like I played really, really well. I just never got any momentum built and didn't hole any putts, and eventually I had the long one on 10. I felt like I played well for a lot of it, but just in the end it was hard," said the World No. 21.
"One mistake on 16 with the tee shot; the bunkers are the ultimate hazards. You know I stuck in there and overall level par wasn't really a bad round. It feels good."
Fleetwood will tee off alongside and five shots in arrears of Brian Harman who, like the Englishman, is yet to chalk off a Major and has little experience of being involved in the big ones.
"Brian had two amazing days. I was watching his round this morning and he was playing great. He's a long way in front, of course there's a long way to go, but still, for myself and everybody else playing, it's just do your thing, play one shot at a time.
"We don't know what the conditions are going to bring, and you just have to keep playing until it's over and see where you finish. If somebody said you're going out in the last group on Saturday, I don't care what the situation was or what anybody had shot, I'd have probably taken it."
The forecast for Saturday is for a soft course after heavy overnight rain and then more of the same throughout the third round. But, if there is one certainty along with the weather, it's that the vast majority of the local crowd will be pulling for their man.
"They've been insanely amazing, loved every minute of playing in front of them and I can't thank everybody enough, can't have asked for any more from anybody. The North West is definitely making a name for itself with how they are. It's been great, and I'm just excited to play in front of them. I really am."
