Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell is best of the Irish at the halfway stage of the Euram Bank Open in Austria this weekend.
The 26 year old shot a solid 69 to go with his first round 68 at the par 70 Golf Club Adamstal to leave him on three under par.
However, this is well behind leader Casey Jarvis who fired a seven under par round of 63 on day two to move him to 12 under and take a one stroke lead over first round leader Robin Roussel into the weekend.
Jonathan Yates from Naas Golf Club shot a brilliant 66 to send him well up the field and he now sits on two under, making the cut by two after looking in trouble after Thursday.
Fellow Naasman, Conor O’Rourke, also made the cut and sits at two under as well after a 67.
Paul Murphy and Cormac Sharvin are going home after missing the cut.
Back at the top of the leaderboard, South African Casey Jarvis registered six birdies on the front nine before adding two more on the back nine and just a single bogey to get to 12 under par for the week, one shot ahead of overnight leader Robin Roussel from France.
The 19-year-old started on the tenth and birdied his opening two holes to reach seven under par before carding five birdies in a row from the 15th hole – his sixth – to surge into the lead. Another birdie at the third was cancelled out by his only blemish of the day on the fourth, but he was pleased with his fast start and how he managed his game down the stretch.
Speaking after his round, Jarvis said: ““I played really solid all day today.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well over the last few days and today I managed to keep that going.
“I got off to a good start and made five birdies from my fifth hole and I thought a really low one was coming. Unfortunately I made a bogey on my 13th hole, but otherwise it was really solid.
“I think the ball striking was on top form today. I struck the ball well all day and I felt in control of my irons. There’s not a lot of drivers around this course, so I kept it in play with my irons.”
Jarvis, the Road to Mallorca Number Five, has had three second place finishes in 2023 and two other top tens, and is delighted to be in position to go in search of what would be a maiden Challenge Tour win this weekend.
He added: “Every time I’m in contention, I’m really excited.
“Like everyone, I want to be in contention every week, so I’m really looking forward to it again to see what I can do.
“I just need to stick to the game plan. I came into this week with a game plan to be really solid off the tee and that’s worked. I feel like if I stick to that, stay patient, and do the same things I’ve done the first two days I’ve got a chance.”
Denmark’s Jeppe Kristian Andersen matched Jarvis’ round of 63, going bogey-free to catapult himself into third on nine under par alongside Frenchman Franck Daux who birdied his final two holes to climb the leaderboard.
Scoring HERE
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