Robert Moran backed up his opening 68 with a three-under-par 69 to move into a share of sixth place ahead of the third and final round at the Alps Tour’s Allegria Open in Cairo.
While he has yet to win on the circuit in what is now his third season on Tour, Moran has done everything but and came into the week ranked second on the tour’s Order of Merit after claiming three runner-up finishes and a T13 in his first five starts.
He started the second round poorly, however, carding bogeys on two of his opening four holes before bouncing back with consecutive birdies on five and six, then added another on eight to get into red figures at the turn.
A bogey-free back nine included birdies on 14 and 15 and he goes into the final day trailing solo leader Paul Franquet by four and just two shots off second place.
Hugh Foley is the only other Irishman to make the cut after a mixed day in which he made five birdies and five bogeys to card a level-par 72 that was enough to see him through bang on the number at two-under.
Sam Murphy and Cathal MacCanna began the day alongside Foley at -2, but both carded one-over 73s to miss out by the minimum.
Franquet held a share of the lead with two other Frenchmen at the end of round one, but pulled clear thanks to a five-under 67. An eagle on the par-5 second hole in round two was his third eagle of the week after making back-to-back eagles in round one.
He enjoys a two-stroke advantage over Luca Memeo of Italy, France’s Aymeric Laussot and Gonzalo Leal of Spain.
Leave a comment