Big chief O'Keeffe hits route 66

Peter O’Keeffe fired a joint best of the day 66 on the Challenge Tour in Bavaria on Friday. Peter O’Keeffe appears to be building up a head of steam after firing a joint best of the day 66 to go into the weekend just six shots off the pace in the Bad Griesbach Challenge Tour event in Germany.

The Douglas man didn’t drop a shot in a six birdie effort to share 21st place on six under par and make his second successive cut on the second tier circuit.

Opportunities have been few and far between for the big-hitting Corkman but he will gain confidence from another two rounds at Hartl Resort in Bavaria.

Victor Riu ©Getty ImagesDubliner Niall Kearney also made it through, adding a 71 to his opening 68 to share 26th on five under par.

But there was no luck for Birr’s Stephen Grant as he missed the cut by four after a disappointing 76.

Victor Riu (69) of France leads by two strokes on 12 under par from Norway’s Eirik Tage Johansen (66) and Dutch talent Daan Huizing (68), who has been working hard on his putting with coach Dr Paul Hurrion.

“My game was solid like yesterday, although I didn’t hole the putts like I did in the first round,” admitted Riu. “I’m feeling good with my game though, hitting the ball solid, and I will just try to keep this going on the weekend.

“This is the first time I am leading a tournament on the Challenge Tour, and I’m excited to be in this position, and it will be great to play well this weekend. I will certainly try my best.”

Norway’s Johansen carded a second round 66 to post ten under par in Bad Griesbach, having got his round off to the perfect start on Friday morning with three birdies in a row from the tenth, before picking up a further shot at the 16th hole en route to a front nine of 32 strokes.

Johansen didn’t stop there as he turned for home, rattling off another trio of red figures from the first to leapfrog Riu momentarily at the top of affairs, before a bogey at the par three fourth saw him finish at ten under par.

On the same mark is Huizing, who carded a second round 68 in the last group of the day to grab a share of second alongside the Norwegian.

The Dutchman only turned professional last October, and came to Germany fresh off a tie for second at the Karnten Golf Open presented by Mazda last week in Austria.

Also up there are Italy’s Andrea Pavan, who continued a rich run of form this season with a second round 67 to finish in a tie for fourth, and he’s alongside France’s Jermome Lando Casanova and Sweden’s David Palm, three strokes back at nine under par.

Scores after round 2:

132 V Riu  (Fra) 63 69,

134 D Huizing (Ned) 66 68, E Johansen  (Nor) 68 66,

135 D Palm (Swe) 67 68, J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 66 69, A Pavan (Ita) 68 67,

136 J Huldahl (Den) 68 68, M Trappel  (Aut) 69 67, E Dubois (Fra) 69 67, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 68 68,

137 S Manley (Wal) 69 68, L Kennedy  (Eng) 70 67, N Quintarelli (Ita) 69 68, M Rominger  (Sui) 69 68, B An (Kor) 68 69, N Meitinger  (Ger) 65 72, R Kind (Ned) 66 71, L Weber (Fra) 68 69, P Relecom  (Bel) 65 72, D Stewart (Sco) 69 68,

138 J Lerchedahl (Den) 72 66, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 69, M Crespi  (Ita) 69 69, P O’Keeffe  (Irl) 72 66,

139 F Bergamaschi (Ita) 71 68, R Harris  (Eng) 67 72, K Borsheim  (Nor) 67 72, C Hanson (Eng) 65 74, L Bjerregaard  (Den) 68 71, J Elson  (Eng) 71 68, N Kearney (Irl) 68 71, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 69, C Aguilar  (Esp) 69 70,

140 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 72 68, S Garcia Rodriguez (Esp) 70 70, S Heisele (Ger) 68 72, J Abbott (Eng) 67 73, A Gee  (Eng) 67 73, S Kannler (Ger) 67 73, F Praegant (Aut) 71 69,

141 F McGuirk  (Eng) 75 66, J Legarrea (Esp) 75 66, A Johnston (Eng) 69 72, M Laskey  (Wal) 67 74, M Glauert (Ger) 70 71, R Steiner (Aut) 72 69, B Hemstock (Eng) 70 71, D Wuensche  (Ger) 67 74, K Ferrie (Eng) 67 74, A Bossert (Sui) 71 70, A Bernadet  (Fra) 72 69, R Kakko  (Fin) 70 71, P Edberg (Swe) 68 73, P Archer (Eng) 70 71, J Fahrbring (Swe) 71 70, W Besseling  (Ned) 72 69, S Kim (Kor) 72 69,

142 N Henriques  (Por) 69 73, P Maddy (Eng) 71 71, S Hutsby  (Eng) 71 71, C Kim (USA) 71 71, M Brier (Aut) 71 71, L Goddard  (Eng) 70 72, O Farr (Wal) 70 72, B Hebert  (Fra) 71 71, R Russell (Sco) 73 69, J Barnes (Eng) 71 71, J Mommo  (Fin) 70 72, Å Nilsson (Swe) 70 72.

CUT

143 D Perrier (Fra) 70 73, O Whiteley (Eng) 74 69, C Ford (Eng) 71 72, L Tintera  (Cze) 72 71, S O’Hara  (Sco) 70 73, G Watremez (Bel) 68 75, G Murray  (Sco) 70 73, P Oriol (Esp) 70 73, J Guerrier  (Fra) 67 76, G Houston (Wal) 73 70, J Doherty  (Sco) 71 72, D Geminiani (Ita) 72 71,

144 M Schneider (Ger) 72 72, J Gibb (Eng) 71 73, L Saltman (Sco) 75 69, T Murray (Eng) 71 73, F De Vries  (Ned) 68 76, D Im (USA) 75 69, M Haremza (Ger) 77 67, D Vancsik (Arg) 75 69,

145 A McArthur  (Sco) 76 69, J Glennemo (Swe) 70 75, N Floren (Swe) 73 72, D Kemmer (USA) 75 70, C Del Moral (Esp) 74 71, I Pyman (Eng) 73 72, C Mivis  (Bel) 68 77, T Nørret (Den) 72 73, G Snow  (Ken) 69 76, C Suneson (Esp) 73 72,

146 J Moul  (Eng) 70 76, A Velasco (Esp) 74 72, N Lemke (Swe) 72 74, O Lieser (Cze) 76 70, N Ravano (Ita) 72 74, S Grant  (Irl) 70 76, R Kellett (Sco) 74 72,

147 A Perrino  (Ita) 73 74, P Kaensche  (Nor) 73 74, D Griffiths  (Eng) 77 70, T Pulkkanen  (Fin) 72 75, K Nicol (Sco) 74 73, G Piris Mateu (Esp) 73 74, T Fournier  (Fra) 70 77, R Saxton (Ned) 74 73, B Parker  (Eng) 69 78,

148 L Claverie (Esp) 69 79, N Dougherty  (Eng) 73 75, J Pastor Lopez (Esp) 73 75, R Mattila (Fin) 77 71, P Westermann (am) (Ger) 75 73,

149 B Hafthorsson (Isl) 77 72, H Bacher (Aut) 74 75, M Haastrup  (Den) 71 78, S Matus  (Cze) 79 70, C Günther (Ger) 77 72, J Senior (Eng) 70 79, A Otaegui  (Esp) 75 74, P Erofejeff (Fin) 77 72, N Elvira  (Esp) 71 78, S Piaget  (Mon) 73 76,

150 E Bertheussen (Nor) 77 73, F Svanberg  (Sui) 72 78, P Gal  (Cze) 77 73,

151 J Howarth (Eng) 76 75, T Haylock  (Eng) 77 74, W Booth  (Sco) 71 80, A Rota (Ita) 73 78, M Kramer  (Ger) 77 74, F Colombo (Ita) 72 79, J Ruth  (Eng) 81 70,

152 M Novy  (Cze) 76 76, J Timmis (Eng) 74 78, S Davis (Eng) 77 75,

153 T Sluiter  (Ned) 74 79, O Rozner  (Fra) 79 74,

154 B Chapellan (Fra) 76 78, Y Kafelnikov (Rus) 78 76, N Bertasio (Ita) 77 77,

155 M Nichols (Eng) 79 76, D Wright (Eng) 78 77,

156 M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 83 73,

157 N Dahlgren (Fin) 75 82,

162 J Maurer  (Aut) 80 82,

171 D Suchan (am) (Cze) 86 85,

** P Dwyer (Eng) 75 WD,