Gary Hurley is determined to hang tough over the weekend at the Kolkata Challenge after a second round 68 moved him into the top-20.
Hurley moved up a whopping 55 places into a share of 17th place and he trails leader Rasmus Neergard Petersen by seven shots on four-under-par.
“Yeah it was good, hit it pretty decent with my irons and hit some pretty close,” said the 31-year-old from West Waterford. “I’m putting really well the greens are really grainy and it’s difficult, some of them the grain drags them off, feel like I putted well but didn’t hole many putts.
“It’s nice to challenge the course again for another two days, we’ll see how far I’m back so you never know the next few days just keep staying in it.
“I don’t feel the best with my long game but just making room for good things to happen I suppose and allowing it to come and go.”
Starting on the back nine, Hurley birdied the par-4 11th before eagling the par-5 15th. He birdied the 4th and 6th holes and dropped his only shot of the day on the 7th.
The former Walker Cup player feels like he didn’t hole as many putts as he should have on day two but knows he can wrestle his way into the mix if he can figure out the formula on the putting surfaces.
“The greens are challenging with shots into the green and around the green and then shots on the green, even down grain and into the grain the ball reacts differently, it’s a lot faster down grain. I found it difficult yesterday to get the ball close to the hole into the grain, it’s hard to trust it at times but it’s very sporadic, it’s random all over the green. It’s not in one direction but it’s very obvious.
“The key is to stay in it, it’s quite tight off the tee, it’s tricky on some holes you have to be in the right position. The rough is up off the fairway so hitting into the greens is difficult to control so it’s about being steady and giving yourself chances.”
Elsewhere, Conor Purcell is a shot further back on three-under after a 71 while Alex Maguire and John Murphy both missed the cut for the second successive week.
Scoring HERE
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