Turkish delight for Irish quartet
Gareth Shaw had a best of day 67 in Turkey
Gareth Shaw came from nowhere to force himself into contention after day two of the Turkish Airlines Challenge as all four Irishmen in the field made the half-way cut. The Ulsterman signed for a day’s best 67 to move from one-over to four under and now finds himself just four shots adrift of halfway leader Jamie McLeary.
Scotsman McLeary added a 67 to his opening 69 to move a shot clear of England’s Sam Walker and Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera in the Challenge Tour’s first foray onto European soil this season.
After a disappointing round of 73 on Thursday, Shaw made just one bogey in his second round with four birdies and an eagle helping him to an impressive five-under par total.
Colm Moriarty consolidated his good start with a second consecutive round of 70 at the Carya Golf Club. The solid second round included 16 pars and two birdies and leaves him handily placed alongside Shaw in a tie for 12th at four-under.
Jonathan Caldwell endured another day of mixed fortunes but managed to improve his overnight score by two to reach three-under par after 36 holes.
The young Ulsterman’s day got off to an awful start with bogeys at the second, third and fourth before he recovered with a spectacular run of five birdies in six holes from the 9th.
Making it four out of four Irishmen under par this week is Niall Kearney. The Dubliner moved into red numbers with a second round 70 and will start the weekend just six shots off top spot when he tees it up tomorrow at 9.35am (Irish time).
Overnight leaders Raymond Russell, Paul Dwyer and Andy Mellor all fell off the pace after racing out of the blocks.
Russell could only manage a 73 to slip to five-under par, but he will consider that a decent day at the office when he sees the cards of Mellor and Dwyer.
The pair both shot 81s to end their week prematurely after missing the cut by three shots.