Conor Stone carded a much-improved one-over par round of 73 to move into a share of 10th ahead of the final round of the U.S. Adaptive Open at Pinehurst.
The Carton House star is Ireland’s sole representative this week in North Carolina and after struggling with the humidity in an opening 81, it was much more like it on Tuesday as Stone signed for four birdies to move up the board.
“I managed the humidity a lot better,” Stone said. “I used chalk on my hands. A friend of mine plays professional golf, and he recommended liquid chalk. I tried it out today, and yeah, much better.”
Stone’s 10-over tally sees him trailing South Korea’s Simon Lee by 12 shots ahead of the final round but despite going eight shots better than his opening effort, he was still far from satisfied with his play.
“Still average, to be honest,” Stone said when asked to rate his performance.
“There’s a good score out there. I squandered so many shots, missed so many short putts out there today. Some very silly mistakes. I had a very bad front nine and a bad finish on my ninth and the 18th, as well, so left a lot out there, so probably 4 yesterday to 6 out of 10 today.”
Despite Stone’s frustrations over the first two days, the overriding emotion is one of pride as he represents Ireland’s at the first ever USGA hosted disability golf event.
“Yeah, it’s unbelievable,” Stone said, a +2 handicap who developed scoliosis as a teen.
“Obviously Ireland won the European Championships there a few weeks ago, so to represent Ireland on a global stage here in the U.S., it’s unbelievable. It’s unreal.”
With temperature tipping 32 Celsius on Wednesday, it’s set to be another hot one for Stone and co on the final day.
- Full scoring HERE
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