Conor Purcell’s five-under 67 on day two of the DP World Tour’s BMW International Open has the Portmarnock man lurking just outside the top 25 at the halfway mark and gearing up for a big weekend.
Four-over after 10 holes on day one, he was already staring a missed cut in the face, but after birdieing four of his final eight holes to turn in a level-par round, he carried the momentum into round two where an eagle on the 11th – his second – and two birdies were enough to see him reach the turn at -4 for the day and tournament.
But Golfclub München Eichenried has no shortage of teeth, and in the space of four holes on the front, he was back at level-par after two bogeys and a double. Knowing that the cut was going to be in red figures and maybe several in, he regrouped and reeled off three birdies in succession from the fifth and saved the best till last, drilling two perfect shots down the ninth and leaving himself a 13-foot eagle putt that he drained, playing the final five in five-under to make the cut with two to spare.
At the head of affairs, Davis Bryant posted a sublime nine-under round of 63 to open a two shot lead at the halfway stage.
The American Qualifying School graduated made it a day to remember with his first DP World Tour hole-in-one before going on to reach -12 after 36 holes, two strokes clear of Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan in second on 10-under.
The 25-year-old, who came through all three stages of DP World Tour Qualifying School in 2024, birdied the 11th, his second hole, before acing the par three 12th hole with a nine iron from 166 yards to surge up the leaderboard.
He followed his maiden ace with back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th holes, before bouncing back from his first dropped shot of the day at the 17th with a birdie at the 18th.
Another dropped shot came at the first but he reacted with further gains at the second, third, fifth and seventh, before finishing off in style with yet another birdie at the par five ninth to lead a DP World Tour event for the first time.
Reitan continued his strong form – he has not missed a cut since March – with a bogey-free seven under 65 to sit second heading into the weekend, one stroke clear of English duo Dan Brown and Jordan Smith, and Japan’s Yuto Katsuragawa on nine under par.
Marcel Siem is the highest placed German player, currently sitting in a tie for tenth on seven under par, five strokes off the lead.
There were another 27 eagles carded on day two in Munich, including Bryant’s hole-in-one, adding another €27,000 to BMW Group’s Eagles for Education initiative, bring the total after two rounds to €43,000.
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