Mark McGowan at Killeen Castle
On another extremely blustery day at Killeen Castle, Jonathan Caldwell has come through to spearhead the Irish octet who will tee it up at the weekend, all knowing that they are still well within touching distance with just eight shots covering the 80 players who finished at +1 or better.
Caldwell was among the early starters and made the most of the slightly calmer conditions, getting as far as -5 for the day and -3 overall before a bogey on the 17th dropped him back to two-under but he’d finish the day tied for 17th and just five back.
“I’m very pleased,” Caldwell said afterwards. “It’s been a long time coming. I’ve been struggling recently, playing good, but not managing to make any putts and struggling to score, so it was nice to get a good round under my belt and hopefully, kick on from here.”
The highlight of Caldwell’s round came on the seventh hole where, having already countered an early bogey with three birdies, he made an eagle to move to -4 for the day.
“Yeah, that was definitely a highlight,” he recalled. “I got a good tee shot away and then was sort of in between clubs and I ended up hitting the hybrid. Got it back to the back right flag to about seven or eight feet and managed to hole that.
“It’s a hole that is gonna give away birdies and eagles with the way the wind’s blowing – it sort of helps the hole a little bit. So it’s one of the holes where you might think you’ve got a chance to get a shot back, but yeah, look, an eagle, it’s lovely.”
One shot behind him are Alex Maguire and Robert Moran. Maguire, who shot a four-under on day one, battled hard but found that the putts just weren’t dropping and had to wait until the seventh – his 16th – for his first birdie of the day and it was most welcome as he’d just gone bogey- double bogey on the previous two.
Moran followed his one-under opening round with a level-par 72 that included a miraculous par save after his ball rolled back into the water on the par-3 16th, forcing him to take his shoe and sock off before literally splashing out to 12 feet and holing the putt.
Liam Nolan is at level-par and sharing 41st place after following his opening 70 with a 74, but he’s confident that he can still get back into contention on Sunday.
“Yeah, look, we’re through to the weekend at home and it’s quite a tightly packed leaderboard, so two good rounds on the weekend could go a long way here,” Nolan said.
“I’ve won tournaments from seven shots behind going into the last round, so seven shots over two days around here with a bit of wind blowing and tough pins isn’t that much, really.
“So, I just need to get the mindset right again for tomorrow, get a positive attitude going out there and see what we can do over the weekend.”
Making the cut on the number were Max Kennedy, Paul McBride, Jack Madden, and Liam Grehan. Kennedy had to birdie three of his final four holes to return a level-par round and squeeze in, and he too feels that he’s capable of playing his way back into the tournament.
“No one’s going to run away with it this week,” he said. “No one’s going to get too far past 10-under as you can see there, the scores are not that low and the golf course is playing tough. So if I can get out tomorrow and shoot 67 or better, that definitely gives me a chance going into into Sunday.”
Grehan, McBride and Madden were among the early starters and each must’ve felt they’d be on the outside looking in when there were around 75 players on level-par or better when they’d signed their cards and just the top 60 and ties advancing.
Grehan’s round of -1 was the best of these, but he wasn’t holding much hope of playing the final two rounds.
“I played so well,” Grehan said, “I shot one-under but it could’ve been four- or five-under, even in those conditions. I made some birdies when I needed to, but the wind was just so tough to gauge. I nuked some irons over the green when I thought the wind should be taking 20 yards off.
“But I ground it out as best I could and it’ll stand to me either way.”
The man they all have to catch is American Matt Sharpstene, who set a new course record with a sublime six-under 66 in the afternoon to move to -7, one ahead of France’s Oihan Guillamoundeguy and Stefano Mazzoli of Italy.
If you wish to come and support the Irish or any of the other players who have made it through to the weekend, you can avail of free tickets by clicking here.
