Silver Medal battle goes into weekend

Matthias Schmid made history at Royal St George’s on Friday by equalling the lowest round by an amateur in The Open, but the German still faces a battle to secure the coveted Silver Medal.

Schmid’s sensational 65, which featured four birdies in the last seven holes, matched the record score recorded by Tom Lewis at this very venue 10 a decade ago.

Yet while Schmid is in pole position to finish as the leading amateur, having moved to one under for the Championship, he has competition from China’s Yuxin Lin, who followed his opening-day 69 with a two-over 72 to make the cut at one over.

Lin showed tremendous grit on the closing hole, getting up and down from a greenside bunker to salvage a par and remain just inside the cut line.

The pair will now battle it out over the weekend as they look to succeed Sam Locke, the most recent winner of the Silver Medal at Carnoustie in 2018. No amateur made the cut at Royal Portrush two years ago.

Laird Shepherd – the reigning Amateur Champion - also impressed on Friday with a 69, but that left him two shots away from making the weekend following his opening-day 74.

Cole Hammer and Joe Long shot 71 and 73 respectively to finish at six over, one better off than Sam Bairstow (72) and Christoffer Bring (75), while Abel Gallegos posted a 76 to be nine over for the Championship.