Bob MacIntyre in major mix again after producing ball-striking masterclass at Portrush

And, make no mistake, getting his hands on the Claret Jug is a distinct possibility because the 28-year-old looks as though he is more than capable of taking that next big step in his career.

Six years after making his major debut in the world’s oldest major at the same venue, giving a taste of what was to come as he finished joint-sixth, MacIntyre is up near the top of the leaderboard at the halfway stage in the 150th edition.

He’d been frustrated to squander being three under early on in his opening circuit on the County Antrim coast on Thursday as he had to settle for a battling level-par 71 in the end.

Three under again after seven holes in his second circuit, he was determined to avoid the same thing happening and, in truth, that never looked even a slim possibility.

His five-under 66 - it left him sitting joint-fifth, five shots behind world No 1 Scottie Scheffler - was impressive in its own right, but even more impressive was the way it was compiled. This was a ball-striking masterclass from the world No 14 and that score could easily have been two or three shots better.

“Yeah, it was good,” he said in a somewhat understated assessment of his day’s work, having birdied the second, fifth, seventh, 12th, 15th and 17th, with a sole dropped shot coming at the par-4 16th.

“I felt like for almost all 18 holes today, I did what I did on the front nine yesterday. I'm comfortable with the golf course. I'm comfortable with what me and Mike [Burrow, his caddie] are doing, and I just have to go out there and try and execute.”

In one of the marquee groups, MacIntyre outscored Justin Rose, his mentor at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome and last year’s runner-up in this event at Royal Troon, by three shots over the two days and was six better than two-time US Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

“It's good,” admitted MacIntyre, who was in with a chance of landing that major breakthrough in last month’s US Open, before J.J. Spaun produced his birdie-birdie finish at Oakmont, of how he felt making his move here.

“I look at leaderboards all the time. I'm always looking right where I am - top of the leaderboard, bottom of the leaderboard. I'm always going to keep my eye on it and try and work my way through it and just see what the chances are. Yeah, I just keep trying to play aggressively but smart at the same time.”

In his opening round, MacIntyre had shown how he’s developed a knack of not letting days get away from him when the going gets tough. His day-two effort, meanwhile, was impressive from tee to green and even the odd decent putt was converted, too.

“Even yesterday, I felt like I played beautifully. I think I gained one on the greens yesterday, but I didn't feel that,” he said. “Yeah, I've had this before where it's not going to end, not going to end, but staying patient and just wait and not run when you do start winning.”

He reckoned there had been a “couple of good breaks” in the round and also a “couple of bad breaks”. One such instance in terms of the latter was when his second shot at the par-5 12th trundled off the back edge after looking as though it would set up an eagle chance. “I thought I had hit the perfect golf shot,” he said with a smile but getting up and down softened the blow. “Yeah, just a solid day's work,” he added.

Having used that promising performance here six years ago as a springboard, MacIntyre has returned this week as a multiple winner on both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour, as well as Ryder Cup player.

“Yeah, it's different,” he said in reply to being asked to compare this week with 2019. “It doesn't feel as much pressure. Probably less expectation for myself. In 2019 I was nervous, excited, but put a lot of pressure on myself because I love the golf course and there was so much going on in my first major.

“Now I feel like this is where I want to be. These are the tournaments I want to compete really hard in come Sundays. I feel like the last three majors I've put myself in good position after 36 holes.

“However long my career is going to be, this is what I want to do. Until I give it up, I'm going to give it my best shot. I feel like the team that I've got around me are a massive, massive help in that. I trust them with everything, and they trust me with everything. Just keep the foot down and keep going forward.”

As he has made his way around the Dunluce Links over the past two days, the support MacIntyre has received from outside the ropes was on par - maybe even more - than that for either DeChambeau and Rose.

Comparing six years ago again, he said: “There's more attention now, but it's unbelievable. It's nice. I have not that many family and friends out this week. It's a lot tamer on that side of it. But the support over here I get is unbelievable.”