Three of the top five ranked players in the world may have missed the cut at the 147th Open Championship at Carnoustie, but battling Welshman Rhys Enoch earned his ticket into the final two days with two of the best rounds of golf of his life.

World ranked No 1 and 2, Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, were joined by No 5 Jon Rahm, Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer in packing their bags early, while Enoch followed up his rounds of 74 and 71 with an even better one-under par 70 to move to two over par for the championship on Saturday.

The 30-year-old, playing in only his second Open after qualifying third at the final qualifying event at Notts (Hollinwell), had to keep his nerve to make the target of finishing no lower than three over for his opening two rounds. He needed to play the final six holes in even par to make the cut and that’s exactly what he did,

His reward was not only a ticket to stay for the weekend action, but also the chance to play alongside the Masters champion, Patrick Reed. Reed shot 68 to move to level par, while Enoch followed two bogeys on holes two and three with three successive birdies.

Having gone out in an even par 36, a further four birdies on the back nine earned him a round of 70 to improve from -3 to -2 after three rounds. It was a massive improvement on his only previous appearance at The Open, when he missed the cut by three shots at Hoylake in 2014.

The former East Tennessee State All-American golfer hit 67% of the fairways in his third round and averaged 320 yards off the tee. Now all he has to do is hold onto that form on Sunday and try to redress the balance of 14 birdies to 16 bogeys in his three rounds to date.

The last Welsh golfer to make the cut at The Open was Jamie Donaldson two years ago at Royal Troon. He finished tied in 72nd with a total score of 297 at 13 over par.