Ronan Mullarney’s hopes of landing a second Gösser Open title remain alive after the Galway man carded a second-round 68 to move to -10, one ahead of Robert Moran on the Alps Tour.
Mullarney recorded his first Alps Tour victory at the scenic Austrian venue in 2023 – the first of two that year en route to topping the season-long Order of Merit and securing his promotion to the European Challenge Tour for 2024.
Starting day two on the 10th, Mullarney sprang into life with a birdie on 12 and carried on the momentum over the next three, making it four birdies in a row with a ‘two’ on 15 before dropping a shot on 17 and making the turn at -3.
Further birdies on one and seven moved him to -11 for the week, but a bogey on the eighth and a par on the last – a par-5 – got him into the clubhouse at -10, sharing fourth and just three shots off the lead.
Moran began the day tied with his fellow countryman, but found himself the wrong side of par after following an opening birdie with bogeys in two of his next three. He’d birdie three of his next five to make the turn at -2, and one further bogey on the back side was sandwiched by two birdies and he goes into the final round four back in a share of eighth at -9.
An untimely double bogey on his 17th was followed by a closing birdie as Michael Young completed a scrappy one-under 71 to move to -6 and into a tie for 22nd, but there was no joy for Hugh Foley who needed a fast start after a one-under 71 on day one. His level-par 72 left him four shots outside the cut mark.
At the head of affairs, Spain’s Asier Aguirre Izcue carded a six-under-par 66 on day two to remain in a share of the lead at -13 with local man Timon Baltl who won the event back in 2019.
“I’m very happy with my second round again—I’m playing solid all around right now,” said Aguirre Izcue, who won last week’s Alps Tour event in Italy. “I’m feeling very confident, and last week’s win definitely gave me a big boost. I’m making a lot of birdies, which really helps when you want to put together good performances. There is no reason for me to complain about a 7-under yesterday and 6-under today, I’m honestly, very happy. Tomorrow, I’ll try to keep doing the same and hopefully, I can get my second win. Of course, that would be incredible, but I’ll stay focused on my game and see what happens.”
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