The Open 2018: Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood carry home hopes as two member of the ‘frat house’ sit top

There are only two shots separating the top 10 at Carnoustie

And after the early torrents of rain had come and went, the sun returned to Carnoustie, lighting up a course that was desperately trying to push patches of brilliant green grass through the previously scorched ground.

Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood had battled through the morning session, emerging soaked but happy to be in contention at -4 and -5 respectively and the leading British hopes. Ahead of them was Zach Johnson, who surpassed both of them to hold the lead alone at -6 before being joined by his housemate Kevin Kisner.

The evening had shaped up so well for Kisner, who was overnight leader (-5) and took a further three shots off par to begin the 18th hole on -8.

From there, however, things went rather awry as he found the infamous Barry’s Burn with his second shot and picked up a double bogey. It was a rare error from a player who has looked pinpoint so far, and one he struggled to explain.

“On 18 I had [the pin] as 160, so I only had 150 yards to carry it over the burn,” he said. “I went with an 8-iron thinking it would come out pretty quickly. Just making sure it wouldn't turn my club over to the left. But it came out like high flop shot to the right. It was weird.

“I don't know if it caught something or what happened. You never know out of that grass. It was in a different grass than usual. It was wet, green grass instead of the brown grass. So I hadn't really played from that too much.”

Kisner was nonetheless happy with his second impressive round of the week. Should he be able to continue this form, and particularly his dead-eye putting, he can continue to be a surprise contender for the 147th Open Championship.

That should make things interesting in ‘the frat house’ - the accommodation shared by Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Jason Dufner, Jimmy Walker, Rickie Fowler, Kisner and his co-leader Zach Johnson.

Zach Johnson of the US tees off during the second round (EPA)

Kisner spoke on Thursday night about the football matches in the garden that have helped players zone out from the demands of the day job.

“I wasn't in a fraternity in college, but it kind of feels like I'm going back to my alma mater,” said Johnson, “and I'm the old guy stepping into the current frat house.

“It does make the week significantly easier because of the amenities we have and because I'm with buddies and because I'm with guys that I can feed off and vice versa. It's never a bad thing to bond or hang out, whether you're competing or not.”

Kisner remains top of the leaderboard, but has housemate Zach Johnson for company (Getty Images)

Behind the leading pair is a group of unconventional-looking golfers on -5, most notably Tommy Fleetwood for British golf fans but also 24-year-old Californian Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau - whose incredible back-story is too long to detail here - and the trucker-inspired look of Arizona native Pat Perez.

It was Perez who delivered the line that most succinctly summed up the confusing upper reaches of the leaderboard as Friday evening drew to a close, saying: “the best thing about this weekend is that nobody thinks I can win it.”

There might be a grain of truth in that, but the reality is that after two days of wild play and changing conditions there is still a big group of golfers who can win it - it’s just that nobody seems to have a clue who will.