A home roar that Seamus Power has lived without for too long greeted all 66 of his shots today as the West Waterford golfer burst into the mix at the Irish Open on day two.
Power was electric and fed off the energy of an excited crowd in posting a back-nine birdie blitz that saw the PGA Tour star knock off six birdies on an inward half of 30 to the delight of his Prize Bull followers.
Home and hosed in 66, Power catapulted 47 places up the board for the monumental effort and finds himself in a share of 21st spot and just five shots back of the lead at four-under par and with it all to play for heading into the weekend.
Indeed, there’s plenty of Irish contenders still in the mix though Shane Lowry’s not as close as he would’ve hoped after a disappointing second round two-over par 72.
To Lowry’s credit, he found himself four-over par early in his round and rallied with two birdies over the closing six holes to move back to minus-two where he’s not without hope just inside the top-40.
In great news for Robin Dawson, the Tramore pro bravely birdied the last to ensure himself a weekend of opportunity in County Clare. It’s been a tough year for the 23-year old but no matter what happens from now, this weekend will prove his best yet in the paid ranks and with the pressure off, he’ll be hoping to creep up the leaderboard from his current position at minus-one.
On the opposite end of the emotional scale were The Island’s Paul McBride and Greystones star Paul Dunne who both missed out by a single stroke at even par. The pair looked to have secured their weekend positions having finished strong on day two but for some late changes on the board pushing the lads at even out as the passing grade was set at minus-one.
There was real disappointment too for Graeme McDowell who bowed out of the competition at the halfway point. GMac never really had it over the first two days as he posted a pair of 72’s for a plus-four total that fell well short of his own expectations after a much improved run of results this term.
“A bit disappointing,” he reflected. “First missed cut of the year and I have to wait until I come to the Irish Open to do it, but it’s always disappointing to miss the weekend here, especially here at a great golf course like Lahinch.
“But I struggled to hit the fairways, even though I felt like I drove it okay. The fairways are pretty elusive, which made iron play very difficult, and I really couldn’t get anything going on the greens, either. So, it was really just a combination of doing things averagely. It wasn’t like I did anything terribly both days, but yeah, it was frustrating.
“I couldn’t seem to kick-start anything. My fourth hole of the day really summed up the week. I tried to take that tee shot on, hit a really great drive down the right-hand side, walk up, it’s unplayable in the side of the bunker and make 5 there, so that derailed my start, and it was battles from there.”
A great experience was also cut short for Headfort’s Brian Casey (+2), Naas’ Conor O’Rourke (+3), Evolve Coaching’s Michael McGeady (+5), Mount Juliet’s Gavin Moynihan (+6) and former Ryder Cup Captain, Darren Clarke (+7).
Full Scoring HERE
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