The name for the fourth hole on the Old Course is "Ginger Beer", which doesn't sound particularly intimidating. But names can be deceptive. Yesterday Graeme McDowell, who could never be described as a whinger, left nobody in any doubt how he felt about the par four of 480 yards.

"I think it's the stupidest golf hole I've ever played, it's crazy," opined McDowell, who was burnt there with a double-bogey six in the second round and eventually signed for a 72 which left him on 141, three-under-par, at the halfway stage.

Unfortunately for McDowell and his playing partners, Mark Hensby and Justin Leonard, the trio reached the tee just when the morning wind was at its stiffest.

Even with the tee moved slightly forward, none of them could make the 275 yards carry to the fairway.

"We didn't even sniff the fairway," said McDowell.

He double-bogeyed, Hensby triple-bogeyed and Leonard bogeyed.

After that, it was a case of grinding it out for McDowell. He followed those dropped shots with a run of nine successive pars, until he birdied the 14th and then holed a 15-footer for birdie on the 18th to finally get back those shots dropped at the fourth.

Overall, though, there was a calm demeanour to McDowell as he contemplated leading the Irish challenge into the weekend, where he will be joined by Darren Clarke and Paul McGinley.

Clarke improved with a second-round 70 for 143 that could well have been so much better if he'd managed to convert even half of the chances he presented himself. McGinley finished with a 75 to just make the cut at one-over 145.

But Brian McElhinney (75 for 153) and Peter Lawrie (78 for 152) missed out.

"I'm reasonably content. It could have been a lot better, but it could have been a lot worse too," said McDowell, making the cut in a British Open for the first time and achieving back-to-back cuts in majors for the first time. He finished tied-80th in last month's US Open.

"It's funny. I didn't play that great yesterday and shot 69. Today, I played better and couldn't make the putts. I just didn't make my share of eight, 10- or 12-footers. I couldn't quite seem to find the hole at all."

So, what of the weekend? "I feel like I have a low number in me," said McDowell. "I'm going to need a low number to get back into it. I'm excited to have played as well as I have for two rounds and I am excited about the weekend."

The wee whinge about the fourth forgotten, McDowell had regained his positive thoughts and was focusing on the challenge that lay ahead.

Clarke changed putters for yesterday's round and, although he managed to keep an official three-putt of his card, he still missed too many chances. In fact, Clarke started as if the putter was red hot, holing from 50 feet on the second and 30 feet on the third. They were bonus putts. The ones that should have dropped didn't.

He had birdie chances from eight feet on the fifth, from 20 feet on the sixth and from six feet on the seventh and missed them all. "I kept on giving myself chances and started missing them as per usual," he said.

Still, when he rolled in a birdie on the 10th, he'd moved to four-under for the day and three-under for the championship. But that was to be as good as it got. He missed from three feet on the 11th to bogey, got it back with a birdie on the 12th, but then bogeyed the 13th and 16th holes.

"I missed every putt I needed to keep momentum going. It was like beating my head off a brick wall," said Clarke. "I've actually played all right, but missed the momentum putts, I missed every one of them.

"I had an opportunity to shoot low. I had chances and hit it close enough, often enough to shoot a really good score and I didn't do it. I've wasted a golden opportunity. I thought I was getting something going, but my putting has managed to grab me. It's not as if I'm hitting bad putts, it's just that I'm not making them."

McGinley had laboured hard without too much reward until he reached the Road Hole. Then, things got worse. On the 17th, his drive found the rough and was buried. All he could do was play a lob wedge recovery, and then his nine-iron third shot pitched on the bank in front of the green. It killed the ball, and rather than shoot forward it rolled back into the hollow from where McGinley three-putted for an expensive double-bogey.

His problems were compounded by failing to birdie the 18th. "That's St Andrews, that's the British Open for you, it jumps up and it bites you. I'm disappointed. I feel I'm playing much better than where I am positioned in the tournament."