Niall Kearney has come through to lead the Irish contenders at First Stage Qualifying for the DP World Tour at England’s Donnington Grove.
The Dubliner opened with a two-under 69 on Tuesday and followed up by going one stroke lower in Wednesday’s second round to move into the top 10 and remain on course to advance to the Second Stage in Spain next month.
Paul McBride is one stroke further back on -4, but he’ll be disappointed with a three-over back nine that included two bogeys and a double bogey, but at T17, he too is well placed at the halfway mark.
A welcome three-under sees John Murphy climb to -2 overall, alongside Robert Brazill who shot his second successive 71 and they lie tied for 30th.
Jonathan Yates and Marc Boucher are at level-par, Tom Dowdall and Robert Moran are at +2, Kevin Phelan is +3 and Stuart Grehan is at +4, meaning that all 10 of the Irish have made the halfway cut.
Spain’s Alejandro Aguilera has taken the lead thanks to rounds of 67 and 66 on days one and two respectively, and he enjoys a three-stroke lead over Venezuelan Jorge Garcia.