John Murphy followed his opening 65 with a three-under 69 to move to -10 and he sits just two off the lead at the halfway mark of the HotelPlanner Tour’s English Trophy at The Caversham.
The Kinsale man got off to a slow start but put an early bogey behind him to card birdies on the fifth, ninth, 10th and 11th to get to -3. He added another on 14 but a bogey on 16 resulted in a level-par back nine and he sits tied for seventh and very much in the hunt.
Gary Hurley birdied three of his final seven holes to get into red figures for the day and he sits tied for 26th at -7, just five off the lead.
Conor Purcell’s week ended in disappointment, however, as the Portmarnock man’s one-under 71 wasn’t enough to see him through and he missed the cut, which fell at -4, by one shot.
Collin Adams, Aron Zemmer and Kristian Hjort Bressum share the halfway lead in Reading, after the trio reached 12-under-par.
Adams, an early starter at the tenth, got off to a hot start as he eagled the 11th before gains at the 14th and 16th saw the American make the turn at four under.
Five straight pars around the turn would stop the 23-year-old in his tracks before a birdie at the par four fourth saw momentum regained. Adams would take advantage of the remaining two par fives, making eagle at the fifth before a birdie at the seventh took him to eight under par for the day.
“I started well,” he said. “I eagled my second hole.
“Before my round yesterday, I said that I would be right where my feet are at and not really look at the leaderboard.
“I told myself that I would play myself out there rather than trying to play the field.
“I haven’t had the best season so far. I actually went and played first stage of Q-School a couple of weeks ago and that has given me a bit of confidence, that gave me a little bit of a mental reset.
“I’m just going to try and play good golf this weekend and enjoy the last few weeks over here, play my game and have a good time.”
Zemmer started with a birdie at the first, which sent him well on his way to a second round 65. Despite dropping a shot at the third, the Italian would make his second gain of the day at the fifth.
After his albatross on the 11th in Thursday’s opening round, Zemmer made eagle on the same hole, before making three gains in a row from the 14th and closed with his sixth birdie of the day.
“Well, I played really nicely yesterday and today,” he said. “Today was I think a little bit easier, it wasn’t as windy as yesterday and I think it’s very scoreable today.
“I had an eagle today, Albatross yesterday. Yesterday I had driver rescue straight out of the pin from 204 yards, today it was a little bit different hole. I had an 8-iron, just pitched on the right and ended up one feet from the hole, so 5-under on that hole, I’ll take it.
“I’m not going to change anything. I have a good game plan with my Caddy and we’re going to stick to that.”
Bressum started the day as solo leader after carding an eight under 64 and the Dane, starting on the tenth, mixed six birdies with two bogeys on day two to keep atop the leaderboard heading into the weekend.
“I put myself in a lot of good positions” he said. “I didn’t execute my chances as well today, but the score is good, I’m happy with four under par.
“I don’t think I’ve been good enough mentally so far this tournament, although I’ve made some very good scores, but I’m very motivated to go tomorrow and make a good effort.
“I’m not saying I made a bad effort, but it could have been better, but I’m being happy with 12 under par after two rounds.”
South African Deon Germishuys and Danish duo Hamish Brown and Frederick Kjettrup share fourth place on 11 under par, one-stroke ahead of Murphy and five other players in a share for seventh.
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