Gary Hurley admitted he got the most out of his round after a two-under 70 put him in a great position at the halfway stage of DP World Tour Q-School Final Stage.
Two birdies in his last three holes maintained Hurley’s charge towards a DP World Tour card after 54-holes in Spain as he moved up to sixth place on ten-under.
“It was a good score for how I played,” shrugged the 29-year-old. “I stayed in the saddle and kept fighting, one shot at a time, played nicely coming in the last few holes and unfortunately to bogey the last, that’s golf.
“I’m happy with my application today.”
The West Waterford man in fact brought both nines to an end in good fashion. After an early bogey on 14 he added birdies on 16 and 18 before making the turn for home on the front nine.
Despite bogeying the ninth – his last he had already made a good move with birdies on the seventh and eighth in what was a steady round to keep his excellent late summer/autumn run going.
“I’m just very process driven in what I’m doing. I’ve done a lot of work over the last three years with Dr. Eddie Caulin on my behavior and just staying in it. On a day like today, my previous self would have struggled and I wouldn’t have shot two-under so just staying in it and making peace with the shots, sticking to the process and being accountable to the process is the biggest thing.
“Staying level was key, I struggled with my swing today and didn’t get upset at all it was where it was.
“It’s just mindset now and rest, I was tired when I woke up, going to take some time to rest and watch Man United hopefully win but that’s out of my control! Just rest and be fresh, when I am fresh my mind is fresh and I give myself the best opportunity to access the skills I have.”
John Murphy finds himself two-shots outside the top-25 after a one-over 73 on the Hills Course dropped him back to five-under-par and 36th place.
Also playing from back to front, the Kinsale native was up against it after a double-bogey six on the 13th but birdies on 11 and 14 saw him turn as he started on six-under.
Murphy was unable to gather any momentum as eight pars and a bogey on six capped off a stale inward half, but he is still in a good position to charge into next week.
The 24-year-old endured a testing day on the putting surfaces on the Hills Course and he is extremely motivated to start rolling the rock on the Lakes Course tomorrow.
“I struggled on the greens to be honest, I’m looking forward to rolling a few on the other place. They react diffferently so hit a few chips and putts and get ready for tomorrow.
“Off the tee this is more intimidating you need to be conservative, the other place is wider and more lenient off the tee so looking forward to getting the big stick out and hitting it as much as I can!
“I’m not chasing there’s a long way to go, I need a few low ones but I’ll keep doing what I’m doing I have a good strategy on both courses so just put myself into position and hopefully the putts will drop.
“Finishing top-25 would mean everything and to get that DP World Tour card, it’s hard to not think about it but at the end of the day you need to stick to the present, lots of golf left to play at the Lakes course and get ready for tomorrow.”
Jonathan Caldwell finds him battling to make the cut first and foremost before he can aim for the heights of the top-25 after a one-over 73 dropped him to two-under-par.
Meanwhile Paul Dunne gave his slim hopes a much needed shot in the arm thanks to a much-needed round of 67 to move to one-under-par.
It leaves the 2017 British Masters winner six shots outside the top-25 in a share of 77th place with the top-70 making the cut after Monday’s fourth round.
Cormac Sharvin is outside the top-100 at one-over-par.
Scoring HERE
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