Matt Wallace was “gutted” to miss out on the final two rounds of The Open but “loved” his first experience of playing in the major.

The Moor Park-attached professional finished his second round at Carnoustie on four-over-par, with the cut coming at three-over as 79 players made it through to the weekend in the battle to win the famous Claret Jug.

Following his three-over-par round 74 on Thursday, a birdie at the par four 14th moved the 28-year-old to two-over par and inside the projected cut line at that stage.

But Wallace was to drop two shots in the difficult closing stretch, with bogeys at the par three 16th and par four 17th as he finished with a one-over par round of 72.

This year’s two-time European Tour winner tweeted @mattsjwallace: “Played better than a missed cut. Loved my first @TheOpen. Gutted to miss out.”

Wallace made a fine start to his second round with birdie threes at the second and fourth holes moving him to plus-two for the tournament.

Those two shots were dropped with a double bogey six at the ninth, but he responded to that setback immediately with a three at the par four 10th.

A bogey five at 12 moved Wallace back to even par for the round before his fourth birdie of the day at 14 put him on track in his bid to reach the weekend, only for his tournament to come to a disappointing end.

American duo Zach Johnson and Kevin Kisner are the leaders going into round three on six-under, but some of the game's biggest stars, led by Dustin Johnson and Justin Thomas, the world number one and two, did not make it through to the weekend.