Alex Maguire and James Sugrue find themselves four shots off the lead going into the third and final round of the Clutch Pro Tour’s Mizuno Championship at Al Zorah in the UAE.
Maguire began the day at -5 after an eventful opening round in which he reeled off an eagle and four birdies in succession from the fourth, but though he found birdies harder to come by in round two, he still found four of them, but two bogeys and a double meant he carded a one-under 71.
Sugrue, came into the week in ninth place in the Order of Merit and in with an outside chance of pushing his way into the top three in the rankings and earning a 2026 HotelPlanner Tour card in the process. An opening round of four-under left him tied for 10th and he was eyeing the 36-hole lead when he reeled off two opening birdies.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t build from there, trading three birdies with three bogeys, but he ends the day alongside Maguire in a tie for sixth and four off the lead.
One further adrift are Mark Power and Paul McBride, with the former shooting a two-under 70 and the latter taking one stroke more, while Cormac Sharvin shot the low round of the day from an Irish perspective and moves up into a tie for 20th at -4 after a 69, where he joins Robert Brazill who carded a level-par 72.
Amateur Aoife Kelly is next best of the Irish at -2. The Dubai-based schoolteacher followed her opening round of level-par with a two-under 70 to climb into a share of 35th.
John Ross Galbraith slipped back to level-par overall after a second-round 74, while Marc Boucher had a day to forget and falls to +3. He, Daniel Mulligan (+4), Damien Scott (+5) and Brandon St John (+10) will all still feature in the final round as it is a no-cut event, but minor placings on the leaderboard are the best they can hope for.
England’s Luke Joy is the man they all have to catch. Making his first Clutch Pro appearance of the year, the Dubai-based pro has opened up a two-stroke lead after a 69 moved him to -10. Josh Hilleard, David Hague and Giles Evans share second at -8, and Wales’ James Ashfield is in solo fifth at -7, one clear of Maguire and Sugrue.
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