Dermot McElroy will go into the final round of the Clutch Pro Tour’s Caddy Comps Trophy at Lincolnshire’s Seacroft Golf Club inside the top 10 and trailing the leader by five.
After a four-under 67 in round one, it wasn’t quite what the Ballymena man was hoping for in round two but, playing in the tougher afternoon wave on the eastern English coast, he managed to limit the damage with a round that featured 15 pars, two bogeys and a birdie for a one-over-par 72 that leaves him sharing 10th place.
Though he’s five behind Englishman Max Orrin, he need look no further for inspiration than fellow countryman Paul McBride who entered last week’s final round at Ashburnham in the same position and overturned the deficit to claim his maiden Clutch Tour victory.
Tyler Hogarty is one shot behind McElroy in a share of 15th after back-to-back rounds of 70, while John Murphy was left to rue a disappointing back nine in which he dropped four shots on the way home to finish the day at one-under overall and tied for 24th.
Robert Brazill was the only other Irishman to make the cut as a level-par 71 saw him through on the number at one-over-par, leaving McBride (+2), and Alex Maguire and Daniel Mulligan (+3) narrowly missed out. Marc Boucher, Rory Williamson, Tom Dowdall and Scott Montgomery also missed out.
At the top of the leaderboard, it’s an all-English affair as Max Orrin leads by one at eight-under from Finn Lord who holds solo second.
Among the quartet tied for sixth at -4 are former North of Ireland Championship winner Aaron Edwards Hill and former West of Ireland Championship winner James Claridge.
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