Gary Hurley and Ruaidhri McGee will go into moving day just one shot off the lead at the Challenge de Cadiz at Iberostar Real Golf Novo Sancti Petri in Andalucía.
Making just his second Challenge Tour start of 2024, McGee was among the early starters on day two and it looked as though the wheels were going to come off early when he made a double bogey-seven on the 11th – his second hole of the day. After a closing bogey enroute to an opening 68, he’d have been forgiven for struggling over the remaining 16 in round two, but birdies on 13, 14 and 18 repaired the damage and he’d add three more birdies on the front side but dropped shots at three and nine to reach the clubhouse at -6 on a morning where scoring had proven tough and was only likely to get tougher as the day progressed.
Hurley was among the afternoon wave, and, like McGee, was playing the back nine first. Three bogeys and two birdies over the opening nine dropped him back to -4, and he’d trade one birdie with one bogey over the first seven on the front side to remain on that number standing on the eighth tee.
A strong finish would be ideal and that’s exactly what he got as he reeled off back-to-back birdies to finish and these lifted him from a tie for 17th into a nine-way tie for third.
They are joined on the weekend tee sheet by Conor Purcell and Jonathan Caldwell. Purcell was a little lacklustre by the high standards he’s been setting this year in round one, but his second-round 69 was the best of the Irish on day two and moves him to -3, while Caldwell matched his opening 71 with the same tally in round two to sit one further back at -2.
Dermot McElroy, Ronan Mullarney, John Murphy and Robert Moran all head home early after missing the cut.
Marc Hammer and Niklas Lemke will share a one-stroke lead heading into the weekend as German Hammer posted a five under par round of 67, while Swede Lemke carded a three under 69 as the duo moved to the top of the leaderboard on seven under.
Hammer made a quick start to his second round with an eagle at the second, before two more gains at the sixth and seventh meant he made the turn at four under. He bogeyed the tenth, before bouncing back with birdies at the 11th and 14th to regain his position at the summit.
“It was pretty solid day,” he said. “I hit some good shots out there and I’m pleased with five under par. I just tried to avoid the trees off the tee and aim for the open side of the fairways and I hit a lot of stingers in the wind.
“I made an eagle on two which was great. I hit a big drive and then my three-wood in was perfect, which left me two-foot for eagle. It was a nice tap in to have.”
The 25-year-old made history in 2022 after becoming the first player to win two Official World Golf Ranking tournaments in the same week and in different countries, and he is now hoping for a strong performance over the weekend in Andalucía to climb the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
“I’m going to work on a couple of things now and take the same game plan into the weekend,” he said. “I’m looking for a confidence boost at some point and a good result this week would be great for my season. I would love to climb the Rankings and start to target a spot in the top 20.”