Liam Grehan was under the weather when shooting a two-over-par 74 on day one of the Sunshine Tour’s Eswatini Challenge, and though he rebounded with a valiant four-under 68 in round two, he came up two shots shy of the cutline.
The Mullingar native posted a T10 finish – his best result of the year – on his return to South Africa after the mid-season break in last week’s SunBet Challenge in Pretoria, and was bitterly disappointed to be suffering from illness when he teed off in round one having made the five-hour trip east to the small, landlocked nation.
He birdied four of his first five holes in round two, but remained on -4 for the day as he reached the 16th having traded two birdies and two bogeys in the meantime. A birdie on the par-4 16th gave him a fighting chance of making the cut, but he followed it with a bogey on the par-5 17th to seal his fate.
Rowan Lester, also under the weather, made a four-stroke improvement on his opening effort, but finished tied for 118th.
The pair now have a week off before heading to Wild Coast Sun Country Club for the next event on the Sunshine Tour schedule.
At the top of the leaderboard, Frenchman Benjamin Kedochim has hit the front after a second successive 65 moved him to -14 and into a one-stroke lead from South Africa’s Wynand Dingle.
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