WHAT a difference a day makes. On frightful, ferocious Friday, Royal Birkdale was as fortified as a military redoubt with the winds raging and the rain lashing. Yesterday, it was as vulnerable as an isolated bank in an old Western movie.

There were rich pickings to be had and the pillage began early. No sooner had Branden Grace posted his record-busting 62, the drooling soothsayers were nonchalantly predicting that a 61 or better would swiftly follow.

Birkdale may have been brought to its knees by Grace but it wasn’t going to roll over and surrender completely. The majesty of the South African’s round would be given added polish.

In the end, nobody bettered the 64 that Dustin Johnson, the player expected to run Grace close, added to his tally. For Jordan Spieth, a bogey-free five-under 65 for an 11-under 199 left him as the man to beat as he manoeuvred himself into a commanding three shot lead over playing partner, Matt Kuchar. “I'd much rather have it this way than any other way unless I could be 15 shots clear,” said a smiling Spieth.

Nothing is guaranteed in this game, of course. Spieth’s surrender of the Masters last year, when he coughed up a five shot lead with nine to play, remains seared on his mind but he continues to demonstrate the poise and resolve to suggest that mis-hap was a one-off aberration.

Austin Connelly, the fresh-faced, young Canadian who looks like he could qualify for the R&A’s free admission policy for the under-16s, and US Open champion Brooks Koepka sit a further three shots behind Kuchar with the charging Grace in a tie for fifth with Hideki Matsuyama.

Victory today would see Spieth heading to the US PGA in a fortnight looking to complete the career grand slam. There’s plenty of work to do before that, of course. He got working yesterday and staved off Kuchar’s advances with a fine display of front-running golf.

Reaching the turn in 31, Spieth patiently plotted his way round the tricky holes at the start of the road back home and made a decisive birdie on the 15th to keep Kuchar at bay. A mis-read on his first putt had left him with a tricky six-footer but he holed it to maintain his one shot lead. “That was a scary one, probably the scariest of the day,” he said. “And to knock that one in was huge to stay ahead.”

A big, black laden cloud which had been hovering finally burst and it seemed to rain on Kuchar’s parade as he plunged his tee-shot on the 16th into the fairway bunker and then three-putted to rack up a potentially crippling double-bogey. He responded stoutly with a birdie on the 17th and could have made further inroads into Spieth’s lead on the last.

A terrific approach upped the ante and asked the question of Spieth who was some 20-feet away having flirted with the greenside bunker. The young Texan answered it with brilliant authority, however, and drained the birdie putt before Kuchar missed his own delicious opportunity for a three from around eight-feet. It was a telling moment.

“That's expected with Jordan,” said Kuchar. “I had a very good feeling about my putt. I thought I'd knock it in. If Jordan made his, I was going to make it on top, but mine slid by the edge. That's part of the game.”

Having nearly dipped into the sand on that final hole, there was a sense of relief for Spieth. “I thought it was going to be in the bunker so when I got up to the green I was happily shocked,” he said. “From there I thought ‘this is where I normally capitalize and make a scrappy birdie’. I had missed quite a few putts from that range but that one just felt good looking at it."

During the tumultuous second round, in which many a combatant was rent asunder by the ruinous elements, only eight players managed to break par.

Yesterday, eight players had managed it in the first seven groups out in the morning. It may have been July 22, but this resembled the Glorious Twelfth as the birdies were blasted in abundance. The Australian two-ball of Scott Hend and Marc Leishman covered the last five holes in a combined nine-under. There were some profitable gains to be made.

Nobody profited more than Grace, of course. At just after 3.15 pm, the South African had made history, almost 45 minutes before the final group had teed-off in an annoyingly late time to satisfy the god of US television.

This was day when par was made to look decidedly ordinary. Ian Poulter was one of only two players in the top 40 to post a one-over 71 as he slithered out of the running.

Having been sat in front of the television on Friday watching the carnage unfold among the early starters and dreading what was in store for him, the viewing yesterday wasn’t quite as X-rated as Spieth prepared for his late tee-off.

“The early coverage just showed pin seeking, the balls reacting and spinning,” he said of the calm, receptive conditions. “Royal Birkdale, that notoriously difficult course, had just become one of the easier golf courses that we play for one round for the year. You just kind of got to change that in your mind. After the golf course we saw on Friday, it was totally different.”

Familiarity with leading a Major may breed contentment for Spieth today, though.