Southport: Australia's British Open hopes have been seemingly blown away in brutal winds at Royal Birkdale.

A dispirited Jason Day fell by the wayside while fellow heavyweight Adam Scott hung tough but still finished his second round eight strokes adrift of the lead following a four-over 74.

"It was just difficult. I don't know how else to assess it," Scott said.

"Tough winds for this golf course, too. I know it's allowed to blow a lot around here but, out of the south east, it made some angles pretty tough, fairways tough to hit.

"It was really challenging out there."

Both stars began the day only four shots off the pace, but Day's six-over-par 76 after he finished six-six-six left the former world No.1 a distant 10 strokes behind American leaders Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka.

With the weather deteriorating, Day – at five-over for the championship – was still likely to make the cut but needing a miraculous recovery over the weekend to have any chance of raising the Claret Jug.

Day couldn't buy a putt early as he dropped shots on the third, fifth and eighth holes.

The world No.6 was unable to get up and down on the third after finding a trap on three, made a sloppy three-putt bogey on five and missed another short one on eight after leaving his approach well shy of the green.

A scrambling par on nine appeared to reignite Day as he collected birdies on the 12th and 15th holes to claw briefly back to even for the tournament.

Then he collapsed.

He double-bogeyed the next after needing two out of a bunker and dropped another on the par-5 17th before chalking up another dreaded double on the last and storming to the scorers' hut.

Scott's woes began when he missed a putt inside a metre on the third and another bogey on eight pushed the 2012 Open runner-up back to one-over for the championship.

A birdie on the par-4 ninth helped but Scott's usually reliable driving and iron play deserted him as he racked up three consecutive bogeys to slump to three over.

Major championship rookie Andrew Dodt, who clinched the last place in the field with a top-four finish at last week's Scottish Open, is next best of the Australians at four-over after a second-round 75.

Day, Marc Leishman (76), Aaron Baddeley (76) and Scott Hend (74) were all at five over and facing an anxious six-hour wait to learn if they will make the cut.

At seven-over, Adam Bland (72) and Open rookies Matthew Griffin (77) and Ryan McCarthy (72) were almost certain to be cut.

Australian Open joint runners-up Cameron Smith (75) and Ashley Hall (74) could start packing their bags after slumping to nine-over.

Phil Mickelson was another casualty of the cut. The 47-year-old American posted a 77 on Friday, which left him 10-over-par after his first-round 73 and heading home for the first time in four outings at Southport.

But Mickelson joked he had at least missed the cut "with flair" as he became another big-name casualty of swirling wind and biting cold on England's north-west coast.

"You know, it's just one of those things where if it starts going bad in these conditions, it's just going to go bad. It's not that big a deal. Unfortunately it's the first cut I've missed this year and I missed it with flair," he said.

His early departure was disappointing for the crowd expecting more derring-do from last year's runner-up, who lost out after an epic duel with Henrik Stenson.

Stenson, meanwhile, had other concerns after all his clothes were stolen from his accommodation near Royal Birkdale.

"When I finished my round (on Thursday), I was informed that the house where I am staying had been burgled," he said.

"It is obviously very special for me to be playing here in front of the fantastic Birkdale crowds as the defending Open Champion so I am going to try not to let this spoil the week in any way.

"I am extremely grateful that my family were not in the house at the time ... The Claret Jug was returned to the R&A on Monday, but unfortunately, along with some valuable personal items, they have taken all my clothing for the week."

Stenson, who shot one under-par in an early group on Thursday, was playing his second round in the afternoon group on Friday.

AAP