Gary Hurley and Conor O’Rourke are in good positions to progress to the Final Stage of DP World Tour Q-School at the halfway point of Stage Two in Spain.
Cormac Sharvin, Jonathan Yates, Ruaidhri McGee and Stuart Grehan are also very much in the hunt to advance to next week’s final stage in Tarragona after what has proved to be an encouraging first 36 holes for the Irish.
Hurley arrived safe in the knowledge he is already guaranteed a Challenge Tour card for next season via the Alps Tour and he has played that way despite the difficult scoring conditions at Emporda Golf Club.
The Waterford native remains on five-under-par after rounds of 66 and 71, just three shots off the pace in eighth position.
With 23 spots available for the final stage the 29-year-old has a three-shot gap to sit on ahead of the pack in 26th.
Desert Springs also has 23 places on offer for next week and O’Rourke took a big step towards securing a spot in Tarragona with a three-under 69 to move into a share of 12th place on seven-under.
The K Club pro carded five birdies and two bogeys on his way round including two in his first three holes and a closing birdie on 18.
Rosapenna’s McGee is just one shot outside the qualifying places on four-under after a one-under 71.
Ardglass native Sharvin kept his hopes of a swift return to the DP World Tour alive after a three-under 68 saw him move into the top-12 on five-under.
Sharvin has proven to be a birdie machine in his tour career and that is what you need to do at Q-School as he carded six birdies on his way round.
22 spots are on offer at Las Colinas and Dermot McElroy – who is also assured of a Challenge Tour card via the EuroPro Tour shot a 68 of his own to move to three-under.
The Ballymena native is one shot outside the cut in 25th.
Tullamore’s Grehan found the going slightly tougher in Emporda as he fell to 30th after a three-over 74 saw him drop to one-under.
Looking for a future after the EuroPro Tour, Grehan roared out of the traps with three birdies in four holes but a triple bogey on his eleventh hole proved his undoing with three other bogeys coming on the sixth, eighth and fourteenth.
Niall Kearney also struggled in Las Colinas as a one-over 72 saw him drop outside the top-40 on level-par
A two-under 69 kept Conor Purcell’s hopes alive as he moved to one-over.
Naas man Yates is just two shots off the top-22 in Isla Canela Links after a three-under 69 took him to seven-under.
The 29-year-old who won the final Alps Tour event of the season currently sits in 27th place in a field that has a host of former DP World Tour players.
Paul McBride is five-over.
Gavin Moynihan and Robert Moran (a) are both six-over in Desert Springs.
Scoring HERE
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