Steady Snedeker Surges to Lead at British Open On a day filled with wayward shots, Brandt Snedeker was steady as can be at the British Open. The 31-year-old Tennessean, who had never even made the cut in golf's oldest major, surged to the lead with another bogey-free round, shooting a 6-under 64 Friday that left him tied with Nick Faldo for the lowest 36-hole score in Open history. Faldo posted a 130 total at Muirfield in 1992 on the way to the last of his three British titles. Snedeker matched him with a 10-under showing over the first two days, and can only hope that come Sunday he'll be in the same position Faldo was two decades ago - holding the claret jug. Snedeker kept up his assault on the fairways, the key to navigating the claustrophobic layout at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. He rapped in four birdies on the front side to make the turn with a 4-under 30. He rolled in a 25-footer for another birdie at the par-5 11th, then put his tee shot in the middle of the green on the par-3 12th and calmly sank the putt - his sixth birdie of the round. He's got 10 of those over the first two days. Just as important, he has yet to make a bogey. First-round leader Adam Scott teed off in the afternoon after tying the course record with a 64 on Thursday, a mark that Snedeker matched again 24 hours later. Scott's advantage was gone by the time he stepped on the course and he was even on the day as he approached the turn, four strokes behind the new leader. Brandt Snedeker of the United States plays a shot off the 18th tee at Royal Lytham & St Annes golf club during the first round of the British Open Golf Championship, Lytham St Annes, England, Thursday, July 19, 2012. Also at 6 under was Paul Lawrie, best known as the guy who won at Carnoustie in 1999 when Jean Van de Velde had his historic meltdown on the 72nd hole. Zach Johnson also pushed to 6 under until a double-bogey at the brutal third hole knocked him back. Johnson was joined at 4 under by Tiger Woods, seeking his 15th major title and first in more than four years. Woods opened with a 67 and pushed his score lower into the red with a birdie at the fourth. Graeme McDowell and James Morrison were 3 under. No one else in the clubhouse was closer than eight strokes behind Snedeker, who is best remembered for making an emotional run at the 2008 Masters and winding up in a tie for third. Otherwise, he's never been much of a factor in the majors; in fact, he was 0-for-3 in making the cut at his previous British Opens. That wasn't a concern this time, not the way he's been playing. Snedeker proved there were plenty of birdies to be had if you kept the ball in the fairway. For many players, though, that proved to be elusive. Rory McIlroy, who opened with a 67, knocked his ball onto an adjoining tee box at No. 3, needed a couple of whacks to escape a towering pot bunker on the ninth, and struggled to a 75 that left a daunting 10 strokes out of the lead. "It's just tough when you're really trying to get something going and it's just not quite happening," McIlroy said. Phil Mickelson, the runner-up last year at Royal St. George but never an Open champion, could've warmed up the jet before he even made the turn. Three double-bogeys led to a 78 and an 11-over 151 total. Only eight players had a higher score when he departed the club, having failed to make the cut for only the fourth time in 19 Open appearances. "I really don't know what to say," Mickelson said after his worst Open round since 2008. I obviously played terrible.