Pádraig Harrington will be the sole Irish representative for the weekend at the DP World Tour’s Ras Al Khaimah Championship at Al Hamra Golf Club, but having ended round one tied for fifth, he’s now well down the pecking order.
Calm conditions greeted the early starters on day two and Daniel Brown and Johannes Veerman in particular made hay, shooting matching eight-under 64s to leap to -10 and -8 respectively, but it was a vastly different golf course that greeted the three Irishmen in the field, all of whom were in the afternoon groupings.
53-year-old Harrington had a mixed opening nine, making back-to-back two-putt pars on the opening holes but found the hazard off the tee on the par-5 third which was playing as the second easiest hole on the course. He recovered to save par, then missed short-range putts on five and seven – the former for birdie, the latter for par – and then let another birdie chance slip on the par-5 eighth.
He fought his way back to level-par at the turn thanks to a sublime, 185-yard iron approach to the ninth that settled within tap-in range, but disaster struck on the 10th when his tee shot sailed left and settled among the rocks, forcing a hit-and-hope hack out that was risking a broken wrist. He did manage to get out safely, but found himself well back in the semi-rough and then came up short on approach.
An underhit chip and missed six-footer meant a double bogey-six, but he fought back to sink a 10-footer for birdie on the par-3 11th before a wild miss to the right off the 13th tee led to another bogey. He took care of the par-5 14th to get back to +1 for the day, but further dropped shots on 16 and 18 – missing a three-and-a-half footer on the last – saw him slip back to -1 overall and three-over for the day.
The round of the day from an Irish perspective came from Tom McKibbin, who needed a fast start if he was to have any chance of playing his way into the weekend after carding a disappointing four-over 76 on day one.
The Holywood man reeled off three birdies in-a-row to start, but gave shots back on nine and 13. Further birdies on 14 and 17 saw him reach the last likely needing an eagle to make the cut, but was forced to layup after pulling his tee shot into the native area and couldn’t get close with his third, eventually settling for a closing par and a three-under 69 that left him on +1 overall and two shots outside the cut mark.
Conor Purcell will have to wait another week at least to earn his first paycheck as a DP World Tour member after a rough start to the back nine cost him his chances of making it through to Saturday’s action.
A single birdie and a single bogey on the front side left him at level-par for both the tournament and the round facing into the final nine holes, but a disastrous stretch saw him drop seven shots in four holes thanks to three doubles and a single bogey.
To his credit, he didn’t throw in the towel and parred the next two before holing a 35-footer for birdie on 16, but having thrown a dart on 17, the missed four-footer summed up his afternoon and he’ll now turn his attention to the practice range and next week’s Bahrain Championship.
First-round leader Marcus Armitage enjoyed a four-stroke cushion on Thursday night, but found himself in the chasing pack by the time he reached the first tee on Friday with Brown and Spaniard Alejandro del Rey both in the clubhouse at -10.
The Bullet quickly reasserted himself with birdies on three and four, but a trio of dropped shots on seven, nine and 12 with a lone birdie in between saw him trailing by one heading into the final four holes.
The Englishman wasn’t intent to just hang around behind, however, and began his late assault by pouring in a 23-footer on 15, then chipped in from the rough on 17 and then clipped a lovely wedge to unmissable range on the last to card three birdies in the last four and take a two-stroke advantage into the weekend.
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