On a wet and wild day at Galgorm, Irish hopes faded as Markus Brier backed up yesterday’s magnificent 65 with a gritty 69 in the extremely challenging conditions to reach -10 and take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Black Desert NI Legends at Galgorm.
Gary Murphy sat just inside the top 20 after round one, while Damian Mooney was a shot further adrift, and both men were targeting a top-five finish that would carry an invitation to next week’s European Legends Cup in Spain.
Mooney started brightly and battled his way back into contention as he made the turn at -2 for the day and -3 overall, then added another birdie on the 10th before the heavy rain that was forecast really made its presence felt. An unfortunate lost ball on 11 undid all the early good work, and as the conditions turned nasty, he dropped four more shots in the following six holes before signing off with a birdie that leaves him on +3 overall and sharing 39th.
Playing four groups behind Mooney, Murphy got off to a good start with a birdie on two but struggled thereafter, particularly on the par-5s before, somewhat ironically, eagling the 18th – the fourth and final par-5 – to end the day tied for 53rd.
Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg is at -8 after a battling 71, with England’s Simon Griffiths in third, one shot further back after the round of the day – a 67 that included two eagles.
Three players are at six-under, with Andrew Marshall being joined by Van Phillips and Adilson Da Silva, who both carded superb rounds of 68 in heavy rain and strong winds. Overnight leader Scott Hend had reached 10-under himself after an eagle at the 9th and a birdie at the next, but as the weather worsened he dropped shots at four of the next six holes and finished with a disastrous double-bogey seven at the 18th to drop back to -4 after a 76.
Starting on the 10th, Brier began the day one shot behind Hend but lost ground straight away, hitting his tee shot into the water. A bogey resulted, and two more were added on his front nine. But the Austrian, who after round one assessed himself as an ‘above average rain player’, proved to be much better than that as he reeled off five superb birdies in seven holes on his back nine to take sole possession of the lead at -10.
“I just found my game at the end and got a bit lucky with another chip-in and a monster putt, but before that I made a few good shots to get me back into the game. When the rain settled in, I just put my rain glove on and got my head down. I was just happy I survived,” said Brier, who is chasing a first win on the Legends Tour since 2021.
“I’m very excited for tomorrow. It’s been a long time since I was in contention to win. I don’t think I’ve even had a top 10 for some time so I’m happy to be back there and I just hope I can find a good rhythm tomorrow and then we’ll see what comes along.”
Lundberg matched Brier’s opening 65 but found day two much more of a struggle and was delighted to have battled his way to -8, two shots off the Austrian’s lead. With the course playing two shots harder than its par, the Swede was upbeat after arguably the most challenging conditions the players have faced this season.
“I’m very pleased with today,” said Lundberg, as he looks for a maiden Legends Tour victory. “Today was not the best day scoring wise and the swing didn’t feel great, but it is what it is and I hit some really nice chip shots to save myself a few times, so I’m very happy. It’s just one shot at a time and try not to mess up. You just try to make par and sometimes have a chance for birdie.
“Being in the final group is not something that really matters tomorrow. I’m focused on doing my thing, doing my best and that’s the only thing I can do. You might not get the results you want, but if not, then it’s on to next week.”
Simon Griffiths, a winner at Marbella in the first event of the year, made a significant move with a brilliant round of 67 that included two eagles in the space of four holes. The Englishman is currently fifth in the Order of Merit after three further top-10s and is looking for a win that would help him to challenge Scott Hend at the top.
Earlier, England’s Van Phillips – a winner on the Legends Tour in Germany last year – notched a superb round of 68 that was made all the more impressive by the consecutive double-bogeys he made on his second and third holes of the day. Phillips is currently 26th on the Order of Merit but with top-fives in both China and Switzerland, where he finished T2, he has found form at just the right time.
A back-nine 31 lifted him to within four of the lead and included a magnificent eagle on the 3rd where he chipped in from the greenside rough. “I played really well yesterday and nothing really dropped,” said Phillips afterwards. “And then today I just holed a couple of putts from longer range, which has been unusual of late. It was just one of those days and it unfolded nicely in the end. It’s supposed to be very bad weather again tomorrow so it’s just going to be a real war of attrition. I’m normally pretty good when I’m in contention so we’ll see.”
A quartet of players are at -5, including last week’s winner Steve Webster, former Ryder Cup player Phil Price, who at one stage was tied for the lead at -9, Lionel Alexandre and India’s Jeev Milkha Singh.
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