Dermot McElroy hopes he is starting to turn a corner in his season after he moved into a share of second place at the Indoor Golf Group Challenge.
McElroy endured a tale of two nines in his second round of 67 to climb to six-under-par and within two of Mikael Lindberg as he chases a maiden Challenge Tour win.
The Ballymena man was in blistering form halfway through his round, turning in 29 after three successive opening birdies were followed by gains on the 5th, 7th and 9th before he added another on the 10th.
Things began to turn sour for the 31-year-old who bogeyed the 11th and then lost a ball off the tee on 12, costing him a double bogey as his driving deserted him.
After dropping a shot on 16, McElroy recovered his driving control and found the fairway on the par-5 18th and he birdied it from there.
“I was cruising. I was playing great golf, seven under through ten. I’ve been struggling with my driver a wee bit, but you can hit a lot of irons on the front nine. My iron play has been great, just the back nine my driving was pretty poor,’ said McElroy who finished fourth last time out in Scotland.
“I putted pretty well. I was hitting it close, holing the putts as well, which is always good to see. The greens are obviously amazing here, they’re very good.
“I was very happy with how I was playing, but then the driving holes, the driver crept in and I hit some awful tee shots. I lost a ball on 12, which wasn’t good, but I hit a good drive down the last and I had an iron in and made birdie.
“I’m holing a lot more putts. Once I get my driver sorted with the combination of it all I’ll be in top form.”
Jonathan Caldwell is still in the mix on three-under despite a round of 72 while Conor O’Rourke has weekend work on one-under after a 70.
Scoring HERE
Leave a comment