British Open 2012 Leaderboard: Scores and Recap for Friday's Action

Friday's second round action at the 2012 British Open from Royal Lytham & St. Annes was thrilling for some and absolutely gut-wrenching for others. 

While Brandt Snedeker broke records en route to a second round 64, fellow AmericanPhil Mickelson shot a 78 to miss the cut at the Open Championship for the fourth time in his career. 

Rory McIlroy had a rough outing on Friday as well, shooting a 75 and falling 12 shots off the lead with just two rounds left to play. McIlroy's double bogey on 15 brought back memories of his disastrous second round in 2010 at St. Andrews, in which he shot a 10-over, 80.

There was plenty to talk about on Friday and a number of items to discuss heading into the weekend at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Here are the biggest storylines, scores and recaps from second round action at the 2012 British Open.

Phil Mickelson's poor play on Friday means that he won't be back at Royal Lytham & St. Annes this weekend to challenge for the Claret Jug. His fourth career missed cut at the British Open also begs the question: Will Lefty ever win across the pond?

Alarmingly, Mickelson has just two Top 10 finishes for his career at the Open Championship (17 appearances), and is far too often a non-factor by the tournament's final round. The lone exception came last year, when he placed second at Royal St. George's. Still, that is looking like ages ago after this year's disappointing performance.

American Brandt Snedeker torched the British Open record, by shooting a new low through the first 36 holes of the major tournament. Snedeker shot 6-under on Friday to head into the weekend 1-stroke ahead of Adam Scott. Even more impressive though, Snedeker has yet to bogey a single hole at Royal Lytham.

The 31-year-old's best ever finish at a major tournament came at the 2008 Masters, where he finished tied for third. He did not play in last month's U.S. Open, and finished tied for 19th at the Masters last spring. It's safe to say that Snedeker's record-breaking Friday performance came out of nowhere, and there is no denying that he made the golf course look easy.