Ireland’s Gary Murphy shot a course record-equalling 66, six under par, in the buzzgolf.com North West of Ireland Open to move into a share of the lead at the halfway stage. Also on eight under par 136 are England’s Andrew Beal and Welshman Garry Houston after both shot rounds of 69.
No Irishman has won a European Tour event on home soil since John O’Leary won the Irish Open in 1982 at Portmarnock, but Murphy moved a step closer to ending the 18-year drought by firing seven birdies round the superb Slieve Russell course in Co. Cavan.
The 27-year-old from Kilkenny, who earned his Tour card through last year’s Qualifying School, almost eagled the last when his chip hit the flag which would have given him a new course record and put him into the outright lead. Nevertheless a birdie four still gave him a back nine of 31, five under par.
“One of my better rounds,” he said. “Didn’t go for any flags. Played conservative and holed a couple of good putts. Been waiting about seven months to hole them.”
Garry Houston is playing his first season on the Challenge Tour after finishing third on the Mastercard Tour for the past three years and finds him leading a Tour event in what is only his second European Tour start. His best finish on both the regular and Challenge Tours was in the Beazer Homes Challenge Tour Championship at Bowood in which he finished tenth, three off the lead, but now finds himself in a position to eclipse that with a good weekend here.
His 69 included just the one bogey on the par five 13th where he three putted but two birdies in the last three holes leave him well placed at the top. “I’ve been playing well since the Open and since then it has snowballed,” he said. “I probably didn’t play as well as the first round but I would settle for another couple of 69s.”
Beal has struggled to find any form of consistency this year as he has battled against both a bad neck and few starts but added a 69 to his opening 67 join Murphy and Houston. He started with two bogeys in the fist three holes but knuckled down and bounced back with two birdies in his first nine, the back nine on the course, and then three birdies in four holes from the third including a chip in on the par three fourth.
“It’s just nice to play some decent golf,” he said. “Today was not easy but I had a bit of luck here and there. I’ll try and do the same thing over the weekend and enjoy it. If you enjoy yourself you tend to play well. This is a big tournament for me – I certainly need it.”
Italian Massimo Scarpa has found some consistency at last, firing his sixth successive round under par to lie a shot off the lead at seven under alongside South Africa’s Des Terblanche. A total of 77 players survived the halfway cut which fell on level par.
