Gary Hurley is tied for sixth after 36 holes of the Dormy Open after firing a four under par second round of 66 at Kristianstad Golf Club and Destination in Sweden, and joined by James Sugrue, Mark Power, and Ronan Mullarney at the weekend.
The Waterford man was playing in the tougher afternoon wave – as were all six Irishmen in the field – and produced a rollercoaster round that featured five birdies, four bogeys and a double to end the day on -2 and four off the lead.
Sugrue’s level-par 70 was the best of the day from an Irish perspective, and after opening with a 71 he sits tied for 27th, one shot ahead of Power who shot 72.
Mullarney began the day level with Hurley but struggled to a six-over 76 but his strong opening round was enough to see him make the cut on the number at +3.
At the top of the leaderboard, Christofer Blomstrand will take a two-stroke lead into the weekend.
The two-time HotelPlanner Tour winner mixed five birdies with one bogey to reach six under par for the week, two shots ahead of Czech Jiri Zuska and compatriot David Lundgren.
The in-form Swede is now primed to contend for his second win of the season having triumphed at the Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A last month.
“I am absolutely delighted with my season so far,” he said.
“It’s always nice to play at home and have support behind you. I have my family and friends here, so it’s going to be nice to have them here over the weekend.”
Blomstrand started the day two strokes back in Åhus and immediately lost ground after dropping a shot on the difficult par four tenth. He responded, however, with a birdie on 17 moving him back to level par for the day as he made the turn.
The Swede remained part of a congested group at two under before moving under par for the day with a birdie on the fourth. He would then kick-on with birdies on seven and eight before a pinpoint approach on the ninth saw his close out his round with a hat-trick of gains.
“It was quite tough out there, so I was very happy with how I managed today,” he added.
“Yesterday, I shot two under and today, four under, but I made my only bogey on my first hole today, after that I played really nicely.”
Blomstrand has enjoyed a stellar season on the Road to Mallorca with a second place finish in Durban, in only his second outing, a sign of things to come.
Having registered top 15s in England and Germany, he catapulted himself to third on the season-long Rankings with a two-stroke victory at the Scottish Challenge, with a second round 61 placing the Swede firmly in control at SCHLOSS Roxburghe.
The 34-year-old, now firmly on track to secure his first promotion to the DP World Tour after agonisingly missing out during the COVID-affected 2020 season, is looking to remain focussed as he vies for victory on home soil.
“I’m going to try my best to continue what I’ve been doing, and also during this week, and see where we end up,” he added.
“It’s a challenging course, but also a fantastic course. It’s hard when the wind is coming from the east instead of the west, and I think we can see from the scores that it’s not playing easy at all.”
England’s Bradley Bawden and Portugal’s Pedro Lencart Silva share fourth on three under par, ahead of a seven-way tie for sixth on two under.
Leave a comment