Lucas Herbert and Sam Burns hit Major Championship record-equalling 62s at Royal Birkdale

Lucas Herbert matched the lowest round in Major Championship history to surge to the top of the leaderboard on day two of The 154th Open, moments before Sam Burns also etched his name into golf's record books with a 62 of his own.

Herbert needed a par on the tough par-four 18th at Royal Birkdale to become the first man to score a 61, but he missed a five-foot par putt after coming up just short of the green with his second shot.

The Australian, 30, started at level par but holed nine birdies in his second round, which was played under sunny skies and with wind picking up into his back nine.

"The nerves were going, but I thought I handled it well," Herbert said. "It wasn’t meant to be.

"So it was a strange one, knocking that in and knowing I tied the record, but feeling like it might be one of the best chances we’ve ever had to shoot a 61."

He added: "I'm absolutely disappointed, and at the same time, so proud of today. Very, very proud to put my name on that list of guys that have shot 62 in a Major Championship.

"So it's kind of holding two emotions there at the same time. It's a tricky one, and I'm sure once the dust settles, I'll be able to sort of decompress it a little bit."

Remarkably, 20 minutes later, Burns chipped in for a closing birdie to match Herbert's heroics as the pair became the sixth and seventh players to shoot a 62 in one of golf's four Majors.

Playing in the second group after, American Burns made eight birdies - including on each of the closing three holes - to vault to five under and sit three shots adrift of clubhouse leader Herbert.

"I had no idea until they told me up there," said a stunned Burns. "I didn't realise that was the case. I'm very pleased with it."

Overnight leader Jackson Suber followed his first-round 65 with a 69 to sit at six under alongside fellow American Cameron Young.

Herbert made a blistering start to his day, with an outward nine of 28 that matched an Open record held by Englishman Denis Durnian since 1983, and which was also recorded at Birkdale.

He made three successive birdies from the first and he added three more – two after driving the short par-four fifth and then almost chipping in at the ninth.

Herbert maintained his momentum with birdies at the 11th and then the par-three 12th to reach eight under for the day.

A winner on both the DP World Tour and PGA TOUR, he then continued his electrifying performance with a seven-foot birdie at the 16th.

After an errant approach shot at the par-five 17th, he produced an excellent recovery from a sandly lie but missed a ten-foot birdie chance which would have taken him ten under.

Despite benefiting from a fortuitous bounce and a subsequent free drop from a barrier after a wayward tee shot, he dropped to his haunches after the disapointment of his solitary bogey of the day in front of huge crowds.

World Number 18 Burns, who finished runner-up to Wyndham Clark at the U.S. Open last month, took the opposite route to Herbert to put himself into contention again for a first Major triumph.

After a 73 in Thursday's opening round, he faced a battle to just make the cut but eased some early concerns with birdies at the second and fourth.

But it was on the back nine that his round ignited as he followed back-to-back birdies at the tenth and 11th with a gain at the 13th after hitting his approach to two feet.

He holed his third shot at the 16th from the left of the green, birdied from 20 feet at the 17th before his chip-in at the last earned him a share of history.

Men's Major Championship 62s