High expectations

Tom Lewis, the 20-year-old amateur who introduced himself to the world with a 5-under 65 on Thursday, shot a 4-over 74 on Friday. The young Englishman is happy with his position and will be trying to record a top-15 finish.

SANDWICH, England (AP) -- After achieving his first target of making the cut Friday at his maiden Open Championship, English amateur Tom Lewis set his sights on a top-15 finish at Royal St. George's.

The 20-year-old Lewis made history by shooting a 5-under 65 -- the lowest score of any amateur at the Open -- to take a surprise share of the first-round lead on Thursday. He couldn't back up those exploits in his second round, carding a 74 to drop back into the pack, but he'll still be around at the weekend, unlike many leading names in the 156-strong field.

"If you asked me two days ago, I would have taken this position," Lewis said. "It would be nice to win the silver medal and try and finish top 15. (I'll) try and take one step at a time.

"Yesterday was a completely different day to today. Hopefully I can have another one of yesterday's scores tomorrow."

Heading out for his second round as the first amateur since 1976 to be in the lead at a major, Lewis encountered early problems and dropped three shots on the front nine.

Despite a birdie at No. 13 -- described by Lewis as the highlight of his round -- he threw away further shots on Nos. 17 and 18 to finish 1 under overall, tied for 17th midway through the second round.

Lewis said there had been a slight hangover from his amazing performance on the opening day, when he stole the show playing alongside eight-time major winner Tom Watson -- the American great he was named after.

"I had to limit the damage and I felt there was loads of it out there," he said. "Every hole felt like there was something, because the way I was hitting it wasn't great.

"But this is only halfway through the event. I've got two days left and hopefully I can stay in the red and that won't be too far away coming into the last day."

Lewis revealed he received "80 messages and a lot more Facebook apps" as friends got in touch to congratulate him after his first round.

"It'll probably settle in next week, when I realize what I did that first day," Lewis said. "Hopefully I can watch some of the footage and see how I look on TV."