Tom McKibbin goes into the weekend just three shots off the lead at the Open de España at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, but Shane Lowry misses out after a late bogey saw him fall below the cutline.
Playing in the early wave, the Holywood man got off to a tidy start, birdieing the 10th – his first – but gave that shot back on the 12th. That would be his only bogey of the day, however, and he added two more birdies to reach the turn at -2 for the day and the week.
Further birdies on two and four moved him further up the leaderboard, but the highlight of the day was yet to come. After crushing a 327-yard drive down the fairway on the par-5 seventh, he stuck his approach from 244 yards to 12 feet and rolled in the eagle putt, moving to -6 for the day and inside the provisional top 10 though he’d end it sharing 11th.
Conor Purcell withdrew after an opening round to forget, leaving Shane Lowry, playing alongside Jon Rahm and the defending champion, Angel Hidalgo, as the only remaining Irishman.
After shooting a four-over 75 in round one, Lowry needed to go low in round two and a bogey at the first left the uphill task that much tougher.
But three birdies in the next five holes breathed fresh life into his challenge and after six consecutive pars, he made back-to-back birdies on 13 and 14 and found himself the right side of the cutline for the first time all day.
A short par-putt miss on the 16th proved costly, however, and when his 16-footer for birdie slipped past on 18, the Ryder Cup hero knew he was going home early.
The man they all have to catch is Marco Penge who proved patience is a virtue as he manoeuvred into the lead after two rounds.
The Englishman has his sights set on becoming the first three-time winner on the 2025 Race to Dubai and posted a bogey free four-under 67 to reach nine-under-par, one clear of Canadian Aaron Cockerill, Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach and Denmark’s Jeff Winther who shared second on eight under.
The 27-year-old, who won his maiden title at the Hainan Classic before tasting victory for a second time in 2025 at the Danish Golf Championship in August, waited for his scoring chances in the Spanish capital and his patience was rewarded with an impressive finish.
The Race to Dubai Number Three parred the first seven holes of his second round before moving into the red with a birdie from six feet at the par-4 eighth. He then rolled in a 10-footer to move within one of the lead at the par three 11th, before parring the next five.
The 2023 Road to Mallorca winner stuck his tee shot to two feet on the par three 17th to move to three under for the day and level with the then-leaders, before showcasing the power he’s known for on the closing par four 18th.
He hit his final drive of the day 325 yards to the middle of the fairway on the upslope to the green, before pitching his second to six feet and then converting a closing birdie and securing the 36-hole lead.
“Very patient day and nice to have a bogey-free round,” Penge said. “I played pretty solid, still a couple of bits there that I can improve on but all in all it was a steady round of golf.
“I think if you’re not patient, it’s going to catch you out. It’s so tricky and a little bit fiddly and if you’re not fully focused or concentrating over every shot, you’re going to make bogeys.
“I wasn’t really focusing on my score out there, it was mainly just to stay as patient as I could and see what the round gives me. I finished with two birdies there, when you are patient you do get rewarded so I did get that today.”
Winther posted an impressive bogey-free 64 to continue his recent good form, and the trio in second place sit one stroke ahead of six players in a share of fifth, including in-form Joakim Lagergren, from Sweden, French duo Julien Guerrier and Alex Levy, Englishman Dan Brown, America’s Patrick Reed and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
Young Spaniard Angel Ayora remains the leading home hope in a tie for 11th on six under, while two-time Major winner Jon Rahm bounced back from his opening one over 72 with a classy five under 66 to sit five back of the lead.
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