Liam Nolan credited a hot putter as he put himself in contention to land a surprise maiden professional victory at the SDC Open on the HotelPlanner Tour.
A late eagle propelled Nolan into a share of fifth place on eight-under-par as he signed for a second round of 67 and he trails Altin Van Der Merwe by three shots.
“Yeah just picking up from where I left off yesterday,” reflected Nolan who started brilliantly with a birdie at the 2nd before reeling off three birdies in four holes on the 6th, 8th and 9th before a bogey on 12 was followed by a three on the par-5 15th.
“At times there was a bit more scrambling going on today and I held a couple more putts which I struggled with yesterday so that got me the two shots better.”
The 24-year-old raised a few eyebrows with a bogey-free round of 69 as he plotted his way around the increasingly firm layout at Zebula Golf Resort.
Nolan’s gameplan so far has been to sacrifice his distance with the driver for accuracy off the tee and it has paid dividends so far.
“It’s great, I knew I was swinging it yesterday and I had a great warm up today so it’s about going out and trusting it like I did yesterday and it worked and I got some better reads on the greens so it’s great confidence shooting two good rounds going into the weekend.
“Just fairways, the greens are so firm and the rough can be a bit patchy so if you can get it in the fairway and control your ball going into the green you can get at these pins because they are nearly impossible to attack from the rough. If that means for me, not hitting driver on every hole and making sure I hit fairways that is what we have been doing.”
The Galway man is embarking on his first full season as a professional and is here on an invite this week. While he has full status on the Alps Tour this year, his professional career could explode into life if he could go all the way and win this weekend.
“It’s great to be in this position so early in the year. In terms of approach I’m just going to go out and do the same things I did for the first two days and talk through every shot really well with my caddie make sure we have a good plan and execute it as best I can.
“It is important but at the end of the day I can’t be putting too much pressure on myself, just have to go out and try as good as I can on every shot and enjoy it. That’s the way I look at it you just have to enjoy these weeks and hopefully you play some good golf.”
Meanwhile, Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy will be playing a supporting role from behind the ropes for his former Irish teammate after he missed the cut on two-over after back to back rounds of 73.
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