DP World Tour Q-School Final Stage is a marathon, not a sprint, as Gary Hurley is well aware and having found himself three-over after five holes on day one, the Waterford man is now the best placed of the Irish trio after 36 holes.
Playing the Lakes Course at Infinitum on day two, Hurley, who’d battled back to card a level-par 72 on the Hills Course in round one, started hot with birdies on 10 and 11, and then added two more at 13 and 18 to make the turn at -4 for the day and the same tally overall.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t replicate the scoring on the front side, and recorded nine straight pars but his bogey-free effort saw him make a healthy jump up the leaderboard and he’s tied for 60th at the one-third mark.
Max Kennedy signed off with a bogey and a one-under 71 on the Lakes Course on day one, and a birdie on the sixth was his only deviation from par on his opening nine on the Hills Course on day two. Two more birdies back-to-back on 11 and 12 set him up nicely, but a disappointing ‘six’ on the par-5 16th halted his momentum and he ended the day on -3 overall, one behind Hurley.
Dermot McElroy was nicely placed at -4 after his opening round, but a horror start to round two saw him card two doubles and three bogeys in a seven-over first nine. To his enormous credit, he regrouped and reeled off four birdies in a row to start the back nine, and five pars followed as he managed to get into the clubhouse at -1 overall.
With the top 65 and ties advancing after 72 holes and just the top 20 and ties earning their DP World Tour cards after the 108 holes are completed, all three of the Irish have work to do to ensure they have a chance over the final two rounds.
Veteran Edoardo Molinari is one of the bigger names in the field at Q-School and the three-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup Vice Captain carded nine birdies, one eagle and a solitary bogey to reach 17 under par for the week and jump five clear of overnight leader Félix Mory from France and Norwegian Alexander Settemsdal who share second on 12 under.
Molinari admits he arrived in Tarragona well-prepared for the six-round marathon and has been pleased will all facets of his game on the opening two days.
“I hit the ball very good today and I had lots and lots of chances,” he said. “My putting was okay and I chipped in a couple of times from just off the green which obviously helped.
“From tee to green was extremely good today. It’s obviously very low scoring which doesn’t normally suit my game but I’ve been putting much better in the last six months which helps around here.
“The last month or so I knew I was going to lose my card, so I tried to get ready for this week and so far I’ve been doing pretty good so hopefully I can keep it going.”
Molinari is no stranger to Q-School having come through ‘golf’s toughest test’ in 2015 and 2016, and says patience will be key as he looks to carry his good form into the final four rounds.
“It’s always nice to get off to a good start but there’s still a lot of golf to be played and hopefully I can keep playing as good as I did today and keep shooting low scores,” he added.
“It’s a long week for everyone with it being six rounds. I think at the end of the week, if you’re playing well, you’re going to finish in that top 20. I think you just have to be patient.
“Being here, you just have to accept it, get back to work and grind it out and shoot better scores. That’s what I’m trying to do.”
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