Simon Thornton recovered from a poor start to his second round of the PGA Playoffs in Aphrodite Hills, Cyprus to maintain his triple threat hopes of playing at Wentworth, the Amgen Irish Open and making a second PGA Cup appearance.
Thornton held the overnight lead and is now just a shot off the pace heading into the final round on seven-under-par after a second round of 69. The Spa Golf Club professional trails Paul O’Hara of Scotland with 18 holes to play.
After finishing strongly with three successive birdies on Thursday, Thornton left himself with some early work to do after opening his second round with back-to-back bogeys.
He steadied the ship instantly with back-to-back birdies on the third and fourth holes and turned under-par with a birdie on the ninth.
The back nine was more solid from the former European Tour winner with eight pars and a birdie on the par-3 15th as he maintained his charge.
The top-3 finishers at the end of Saturday’s play will earn spots on the Great Britain and Ireland PGA Cup side and with a four-shot gap between Thornton in second and Graeme Robertson in fourth, the Northern Irishman has a great chance to secure a spot.
If he were to finish second he would secure in addition, starts at the Betfred British Masters on the DP World Tour as well as a home start at the Challenge Tour’s NI Open and the Scottish Challenge.
The chances of earning starts at the BMW Championship in Wentworth and the Amgen Irish Open with a victory are very much alive heading into the final round.
Meanwhile, Tim Rice and David Higgins are both in a tie for 14th place on seven-over-par.
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