Dermot McElroy is hoping his driver warms up this weekend after he played his first ten holes in a blistering seven-under in the Indoor Golf Group Challenge in Sweden.
The Ballymena man (31) birdied the first, second, third, fifth, seventh and ninth to go out in 29 before making another birdie at the 10th to go seven-under for the day.
A super-low round beckoned, but admittedly struggled with his driver; he bogeyed the 11th, double-bogeyed the 12th and dropped another shot at the 16th before making birdie at last.
It all added up to a four-under 67 that left McElroy in an eight-way tie for second place on six-under at Landeryds Golfklubb’s Vesterby Links, just two shots behind home player Mikael Lindberg, who shot 67.
“I was cruising,” McElroy said. “I was playing great golf, seven under through ten. I have been struggling with my driver a wee bit, but you can hit a lot of irons on the front nine.
“My iron play’s been great, just the back nine my driver was pretty poor.
“I putted really well. I was hitting it close, but I was holing the putts as well, which is always good to see. The greens are obviously amazing here, they’re very very good.
“I was very happy with how I was playing, but then the driving holes, the driver crept in, and I hit some awful tee shots.
“I lost a ball on 12, which wasn’t good, but I hit a good drive down the last, and then I had an iron in and made a birdie there.
“Overall, for the amount of bad tee shots I hit on the back nine, four under was ok. But seven under after ten, you’re obviously thinking a couple more and you never know.”
McElroy is finding form at the right time with his recent tie for fourth in the Scottish Challenge moving him inside the top 90 in the Road To Mallorca standings, thus securing his exemption into the Second Stage of the Qualifying School.
“I definitely think my iron play is really good at the moment,” he said. “I had a week off last week because it was four in a row before that, but coming into this week, my iron play is still pretty good.
“I’m holing a lot more putts. Once I get my driver sorted, with the combination of it all, I’ll be in top form.”
Jonathan Caldwell shot a one-over 72 to slip to tied 22nd on three-under with Conor O’Rourke 39th on one-under after a 70.
But the rest of the Irish missed the level par cut, with Conor Purcell, ranked fourth after his win in the NI Open, projected to fall from eighth to ninth in the standings.
The Portmarnock man shot a 73 to finish on two-over alongside Mark Power, who shot 74.
Alex Maguire added a 70 to his opening 78 to miss out on six-over.