Brendan McGovern took a commanding lead at European Senior Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, moving six shots clear of the field as he makes his bid to secure one of the five cards available at Pestana Golf Resort, Portugal.
The Headfort professional carded a faultless five under par 66, matching his first round score on the Vale da Pinta Golf Course in the Algarve despite tricky weather conditions.
The 51 year old finished inside the top five at last year’s Qualifying School and is aware of what needs to be done to secure a card for the Senior Tour’s 2017 season.
Despite this, he is determined not to get carried away with 36 holes still to play.
“I’m not looking too much at the score,” he said. “I played solid. I made no mistakes today and got a good score.
“I wasn’t too worried about the bad weather because that would scupper any nine you play. I probably had the advantage of starting in the dry weather on what would be considered as the scoring nine – it’s not always that way.
“But I took advantage and made the turn in four under par. I then played solid on the front nine, my back nine. The good start helped me and I gave myself chances most of the way round.
“It’s still early days; there’s a long way to go and anything can happen on that course.”
McGovern is one of three Irishmen at the Final Stage and it was another tough day for Ballybunion amateur, Peter Sheehan, who is tied 45th after he followed yesterdays 74 with a four over 75 while Lisburn Golf Clubs Stephen Hamill carded a 77 today and is in a tie for 62nd on +11.
After tomorrows 54 hole mark, players within eight shots of fifth place will go forward to the final round on Thursday.
Scores after round two
132 B McGovern (Irl) 66 66,
138 B Conser (USA) 71 67, C Hunsucker (USA) 69 69,
139 G Rusnak (USA) 68 71,
140 D Shacklady (Eng) 70 70, J Sallat (Fra) 72 68,
141 P Wilson (Eng) 66 75, M Wharton (Eng) 71 70, J Romero (Esp) 72 69, S McNally (Eng) 72 69,
142 J Cheetham (Eng) 74 68, T Spence (Eng) 71 71, C Dennis (USA) 70 72, J Carter (USA) 71 71, J Hall (Eng) 70 72,
143 P Streeter (Eng) 72 71, Y Nilsson (Swe) 72 71, J Carriles (Esp) 73 70,
144 J Bevan (Eng) 69 75, A Fernandez (Chi) 72 72, S Jensen (am) (Eng) 68 76,
145 J Berendt (Arg) 74 71, M Davis (Eng) 71 74, J Steenkamer (Ned) 70 75, M Molina (Arg) 71 74, C Swart (RSA) 73 72,
146 M Wiggett (Eng) 73 73, A Sherborne (Eng) 75 71, G Wall (Aus) 73 73, D Wettlaufer (Can) 70 76, S Cipa (Eng) 76 70, K Tenmark (Swe) 69 77, N Sweet (Eng) 71 75,
147 G Ryall (Eng) 72 75, G Joyner (Aus) 72 75, W Bladon (Eng) 77 70, K Tarling (Can) 72 75, D Narveson (USA) 72 75, F Grosset-Grange (Fra) 72 75,
148 W Grant (Eng) 74 74, D Westermark (Swe) 73 75, J Kula (Fra) 71 77, M Nichols (Eng) 79 69, B Smith (am) (Eng) 76 72,
149 M Kierstenson (Eng) 74 75, F Mann (Sco) 73 76, M Haddock (am) (Eng) 74 75, P Sheehan (am) (Irl) 74 75,
150 M Booth (Eng) 75 75, R Sabarros (Fra) 74 76, B White (Eng) 75 75, M Reynard (Eng) 77 73, J Quiros (Esp) 76 74, M Spooner (Eng) 77 73, P Scarrett (am) (Eng) 71 79,
151 T Giles (Eng) 73 78, J Buendia (Esp) 72 79, S Bennett (Eng) 73 78, T Elliott (Aus) 75 76, T Persson (am) (Swe) 76 75,
152 N Mitchell (Eng) 76 76,
153 P Affleck (Wal) 77 76, S Puzey (USA) 75 78, S Hamill (Nir) 76 77, C Baron (Eng) 76 77,
154 K Hutton (Sco) 77 77,
155 M Pyatt (Eng) 76 79, G Banister (Aus) 76 79, R Scheffer (Ned) 75 80, J Binch (am) (Eng) 76 79,
156 D Shaw (USA) 78 78, M Macara (Wal) 79 77,
157 G Harris (Eng) 80 77,
158 M Gallagher (Eng) 81 77,
** A Franco (Par) 80 RT, R Gonzalez (Arg) WD 0
Leave a comment