Wes Short Jr. Leads Senior British Open 2019 by 1 Shot After Friday's Action

Wes Short Jr. birdied the final three holes of his second round to take a one-shot lead into weekend at the British Senior Open on Friday at the Royal Lytham and St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England. 

Scott Dunlap led the way for much of the day before Short produced an excellent finish. After birdies on 16, 17 and 18, he was able to post a second consecutive round of 67, putting him six-under for the tournament.

Former Open champion Darren Clarke is just two shots back of Short after he posted a 68 on Day 2. 

Here is a look at how things stand at the halfway point, with play set up for a thrilling weekend.

Leaderboard (Friday Score)

1. Wes Short Jr., -6 (67)

2. Scott Dunlap, -5 (68)

3. Darren Clarke, -4 (68)

4. Bart Bryant, -3 (68)

    Ken Duke, -3 (69)

    Retief Goosen, -3 (67)

For the full leaderboard, visit the Staysure Tour website.

Friday Recap

Following on from a fine start to his championship on Thursday, Dunlap kicked on again in his second round in variable conditions.

What made the American's round all the more impressive was the manner in which he recovered after a rocky start. Dunlap took a double-bogey at the sixth and could have easily let his round spiral out of control on a challenging course.

Instead, he birdied the next two holes and while there were more bogeys at seven and 17, he picked up four more shots on the back nine to go back to the top of the leaderboard.

Per the PGA TOUR Champions Twitter account, Dunlap has fought back from injury and got himself into terrific form:

For long spells of Friday's play, his score of five-under for the tournament appeared as though it was going to be the mark to beat going into Moving Day.

Clarke would have been pleased to keep himself in the mix after a solid outing on Friday. The Northern Irishman missed the cut in disappointing circumstances at the Open last weekend—he made a triple bogey on the last hole in his second round to drop below the cut line—but has recovered well.

Dunlap and Clarke appeared set to be the final pairing before Short Jr. found his form late on Day 2. For most of his round, the American had been up and down, offsetting four birdies with a double and two bogies over the first 15.

However, he produced a stunning finish that'll give him plenty of momentum going into a crucial weekend.

Elsewhere, eight-time major winner Tom Watson produced this excellent effort at the last to ensure he was around for the weekend:

Short Jr. will be wary of the players in hot pursuit of his top spot on Saturday. Goosen was able to shoot three-under to move up the leaderboard, as did 2018 winner Bernhard Langer, who is just a shot further back.

The lowest rounds of the day came from Jerry Kelly (-1), Stephen Leaney (-1) and Chris DiMarco (+2), who all shot impressive 66s.