Colm Moriarty remains in solo second place at the PGA Professional Championship at Conwy Golf Club on the northern coast of Wales, and he’s just three shots off the lead at the halfway stage.
The Glasson Lakehouse pro opened with an impressive three-under 69, but playing in the afternoon wave on day two was always likely to find the going a little tougher. An opening bogey was far from ideal, and he’d trade two more with two birdies on his outward nine to make the turn at +1 for the day.
With conditions calmer throughout the day than they’d been on day one, he’d slipped into a share of fourth, but the bogey on seven was his last dropped shot of the day and he rebounded with three birdies in his final six holes, including twos at both par-3s on the way home. This lifted him to -5 overall, three shots shy of Scot Craig Lee who matched Moriarty’s 70 to maintain his three-shot cushion.
Tim Rice climbed 13 spots on the leaderboard courtesy of a 70 of his own and he now sits in a tie for 15th alongside Sean O’Donoghue and David Higgins. Mount Wolseley man O’Donoghue shot a one-over 73 after a level-par opener, while Higgins improved on his opening score by two to shoot a 71 and join his fellow countrymen on +1.
Banbridge’s Richard Kilpatrick make the cut on the number at +5 after taking 74 blows in round two, but the week’s adventure ends for Joe Dillon, Michael McGeady, Richard Weldon, Brian McCormack Jnr and David Mortimer who all found themselves the wrong side of the cutline at the 36-hole mark.
Moriarty now takes his place alongside Lee and another Scot in Paul McKechnie in the final group on Thursday as the recent Liffey Valley PGA Pro-Am winner at Lucan Golf Club aims to collect his second victory of the season and the first prize cheque of £10,000.