Newport-based Phillip Price is in danger of missing the cut after a slow start to his second round at Royal Troon.

Price, 37, yesterday carded a three-over-par 74 but he was looking to improve on that with a much earlier start time today.

Both overnight leaders, Frenchman Thomas Levet and England's Paul Casey set the pace during early rounds yesterday, with the wind less of a factor.

However, Price who started shortly after 7am, picked up only one shot on the easier outward nine this morning, by making birdie on the ninth.

This leaves him on two over par, perilously close to the early projected cut.

Ulsterman Darren Clarke was one of the first players this morning to make an real assault on Casey and Levet's five-under- score, by picking up birdies on four and five to move within one shot of the leaders.

However, Clarke then made bogey to drop back to three under par.

Michael Campbell briefly joined Casey and Levet at five under after making a birdie on the first, but he bogeyed the second to remain at four under par.

One of the biggest moves of the morning has come from Canadian Mike Weir who won the 2003 US Masters.

The left-hander started the day at level par and after four more pars rolled in a hat-trick of birdies from the fifth to join Clarke on three under.

Vijay Singh made an early impression as well, moving to four under par after just two holes. Something which is likely to have a huge bearing on the rest of the competition is the fact that the wind finally seems to be picking up.

An early example of this was the fact that Darren Clarke took seven iron for his second to the fourth - Gary Evans had holed out with a five iron from 226 yards - and Clarke was just short of the 601-yard sixth in two.

But having elected to putt from the front of the green he raced his first attempt 12ft past and missed the return to remain three under par.

Campbell had also squandered a great opportunity to get back into the lead when he missed from four feet for birdie.