Australia's weather-weary golfer stars are close enough if good enough to bring back the Claret Jug after surviving two soul-searching rounds to remain in British Open contention.
In a cruel stroke of misfortune, all eight Australians at Carnoustie copped the worst of the Open's notoriously fickle weather conditions in the first two rounds as Americans Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar cashed in on golden sunshine to soar up the leaderboard on day two.
Despite their wretched luck, seven Australians made the halfway cut, led by major winners Adam Scott and Jason Day and fearless rookies Lucas Herbert and Cameron Davis, to give themselves a fighting chance of Open glory.
Scott is Australia's only player in red numbers after grinding out a one-under-par 70 to be one under for the championship and five shots behind second-round joint leaders Kevin Kisner and Zach Johnson.
"Hopefully I've got my best stuff on the weekend," the 2012 Open runner-up and 2013 Masters champion told AAP.
"I'm going to have to have a really good round - that five-under round, ideally tomorrow - to get myself somehow into this tournament.
"I've played a lot of good rounds of golf in majors over the weekend, particularly at Augusta but at the Open as well, and I'm very clear with what I need to do.
"My game is good enough to do it. It's just a matter of doing it."
Day lamented finishing bogey, bogey, bogey for a 71 to be even par and six back, having been only two off the lead late in his round in driving rain.
"It was miserable out there. It didn't stop raining the whole time," a drenched Day said.
"It was just tough because by the end of it everything was wet. My whole bag's wet, my clubs are wet.
"So it was a tough finish. I wish I could have taken the last four holes back, but it is what it is.
"Hopefully I can get some nice weather tomorrow. Even if it's windy, as long as it's not wet, I'll try and get myself back into it."
Herbert, 22 and making his Open debut, produced Australia's best round of the day, a 69 to join Day at level with the card and also still hopeful of making a charge.
"If I get a good round out there in the morning, who knows come Sunday," Herbert said.
Fellow Open debutant Cameron Davis is seven strokes behind after a second-round 72, while Marc Leishman (72), Cameron Smith (71) and Brett Rumford (70) are all eight shots off the pace.
"I'm just hoping that it dries up. I've done it before from a long way back," said Leishman, who stormed home with rounds of 64-66 to force a play-off with Johnson at St Andrews three years ago.
"Hopefully that's what I'll do. Still two rounds left, I'm striking the ball well. I'm optimistic, put it that way."
Matt Jones, who endured the worst of the worst conditions, was the only Australian to miss the cut after rounds of 75 and 76 left the 2015 Australian Open champion at nine over.
