Des Smyth leads the British Senior Open Championship at Muirfield having capitalised on a windy second day when low scoring was difficult yesterday.

Smyth (54) carded a second successive 70 - helped by an incredible run of four birdies over the last four holes - to post a two-under 140 total and then watched as several players above and around him fell away.

Nick Faldo, making his Seniors Tour debut, could not match his opening 68, which had given him a share of the first-round lead, and a 74 dropped him back to level par.

Smyth bogeyed the third in a first nine of 37 and dropped to three over par for the day after 14 holes but finished in style with four in a row from the 15th.

Faldo, returning to the scene of two of his three British Open Championship victories, began with three bogeys in his opening four holes, though birdies at the third and fifth lessened the damage.

Three more bogeys on the back nine - with just a single birdie at the 11th - were not what Faldo was looking for but he was relieved to still be in contention.

"This was a tough day. You come and play this great golf course in a tough wind and that bit was a fun challenge but I made a meal of it on the greens," said the six-time major winner, who admitted he struggled with his putting.

"It felt quite good at the start but as the day wore on it started eating at me.

"I needed some help on the greens because I was making more of a mess of it.

"It is a tough game and you start looking for your comfort zone (for holing putts) - mine was two feet.

"The crazy thing is I'm still in there, which is nice as it lifts your hopes a lot.

"If I can find something which will give me a boost I can get some momentum."

Faldo admitted he had tried to tell himself he wanted just to enjoy his first outing on the Seniors Tour but had found that impossible.

"When I come and play I want to come and play well," he said.

"The word 'fun' doesn't work for me. If I am not shooting scores or shots I know I can hit it is not fun for me. The only way it can be fun is to do what I know I can do and that is when I get a kick out of it."

Gordon J Brand, one of three other overnight leaders with Faldo, was one ahead playing the last but three-putted from long distance for a double-bogey six to finish with a 73 and a one-under-par total.

He shares second with America's eight-time major winner Tom Watson, the Argentinian Eduardo Romero - both had level-par rounds of 71 - and Australia's Stewart Ginn, who shot 70 on a day when no player broke that number.

Mark McNulty added a 76 to his opening 70 for 146, while also playing for the weekend are Eamonn Darcy and Denis O'Sullivan, who made it on the cut mark of 151. Darcy shot 74 and O'Sullivan 76.