Fearful he was about to run up a quadruple bogey on the par-4 11th, the defending champion thought his 7-iron shot was heading out of bounds until the ball collided with a wall and bounced back into play.

From there he chipped and putted for 5. It was one of the best bogeys of his career – he'd already needed a penalty drop after finding a bush off the tee – and encouraged Watson, 71 for 141, to feel good about his chances here over the weekend. "I'm still right in the tournament," he reflected. "I made 5 on the 11th but it could easily have been 8."

Watson isn't surprised the little known Vaughan leads the way into today's third round. He revealed that where Vaughan came from was one of the windiest places in America. "That's how he's got the wind experience," said the five time Open champion.

Vaughan, 71 for 139, who overcame a painful knee which needed to be iced, led the way on three under while John Cook, Watson, Bernhard Langer and Eduardo Romero also finished in the red numbers which denote scores under par.

According to Cook, 71 for 140, it will be the player who makes the fewest mistakes over the weekend who challenges for the senior Claret Jug. He would take his chances on two under tomorrow evening.

On a warm, blustery day in Ayrshire, a record crowd for this event of 9,435 watched some of the game's most illustrious champions grapple with a thoroughly testing lay-out.

It wasn't all gloom and doom, of course, as Garry Halberg, an American rookie on the senior circuit, posted the low round of the second day, 69, to move within six strokes of the lead

The stellar three-ball of Watson, Sandy Lyle and Greg Norman didn't get off lightly, though Norman, 72 for 147, was cheered by an eagle at the 16th and finished off with three consecutive 3s to sign for five over par. The Shark hasn't written off his chances and thinks making up eight strokes over 36 holes on a links isn't out of the question. He's still not made up his mind, though, about playing in the US PGA.

It was a horrid day at the office for Lyle who was 12 over par after running up 79 for 154. Sam Torrance, who has been toiling with a hand injury, also finished off in dispiriting fashion, carding four consecutive bogeys before signing for 81 and 154, 12 over. Ross Drummond was by far the best of the 16 Scots on 76 for 148, six over. The only other native who made the cut was Bill McColl, 76 for 152.

Of those who teed up in the morning, Langer, on 71, and Romero, on 73, both signed for one under and showed admirable focus. "It's very hard to maintain concentration," said the Argentine. "When you're tired it's so difficult to concentrate. I feel dead tired and there are two days to go." At least, Romero was relieved his touch on the greens didn't desert him.

Finesse was a much prized quality on the back nine when the combination of a tail wind gusting up to 30mph and baked fairways and greens made control of the ball tricky.

If there were more disadvantages than pluses in such difficult circumstances, there were also snapshots of skill. The American Tom McKnight, for example, holed his second shot to the 18th, a 9 iron from 153 yards, to finish with 2 and post a respectable 76 for 152.

Most players, like Watson, found the 11th, the Railway, exceptionally awkward, as balls ran into the gorse. Langer took 5 and described it as "almost unplayable" while Romero, who also made 5, argued: "They used the wrong tee. If you used the tee to the left, it's still difficult, but at least you can see the fairway. I hit a 6 iron, because it's very difficult to take a driver. That's why there were so many bogeys."

Andy Stubbs, the chief executive of the European Seniors Tour, explained that no changes were made to the tees yesterday in order to ensure both sides of the field enjoyed a level playing field. Now the cut has been made, however, it's possible one or two tees will be moved up this morning for the third round.

After inclement weather and darkness suspended the opening round of the Canadian Open at Glen Abbey in Oakville, Ontario, local favourite Mike Weir found himself with more company atop the leaderboard.

Play resumed yesterday morning after 78 players failed to finish their opening rounds on Thursday, among them were John Huston and Sean O'Hair who completed their opening rounds with six under 65s to pull into an early lead with Weir, Anthony Kim and Eric Axley.

John Senden is one shot back after opening with a five under 66.

Weir, an Ontario native, had a bogey-free round on Thursday with six birdies on the par-71 course and was expected to get his second round underway yesterday afternoon, local time.

Weir began play on the back nine on Thursday and quickly drew the interest of the crowd with long birdie putts on the 13th and 15th holes. It was a sign of things to come on the greens as Weir followed with a long 25-foot birdie putt at the 2nd before he added three more on 4, 5 and 9. In total, the former Masters champion needed just 25 putts for his entire first round.

"You don't do that around this golf course too often," said Weir on Thursday. "Glen Abbey played about as easy as it could today. I drove the ball nice and made some nice putts."