Teenager John Doyle birdied four of his last seven holes to roar into contention at the halfway stage of the 60th Lytham Trophy at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
Doyle carded a second round of 67 to climb into a share of sixth place on level-par and he is six shots behind Finland’s Lauri Rosendahl.
The Fota Island youngster birdied two of his last five in round one and he put on another sensational finish to his second round with birdies on the 12th, 13th, 16th and 18th.
The 18-year-old started well with an early birdie on the 3rd but endured a rocky spell with a birdie on 7 but bogeys on the 6th, 9th and 10th before his burst of brilliance. Doyle’s chances to impress Walker Cup selectors will be limited with the Leaving Certificate exams looming large but Saturday’s final 36 holes and next week’s Irish Amateur look like they could be the perfect audition for Dean Robertson’s side.
Doyle has shown up well in some of the biggest events in the UK, losing out in a playoff at the St Andrew’s Links Trophy last year having got into the field as a wildcard.
Defending Irish Amateur and Close champion Stuart Grehan isn’t entirely out of the picture in 13th on three-over after a 72 although he will need to get the putter going after carding sixteen pars and two bogeys.
Edmonstown debutant Patrick Curran did brilliantly to make the cut on the six-over mark after a brave level-par round of 70, leaving just three Irish players remaining from the sixteen that started the week.
Scoring HERE
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