Tour round-up: Grant and McCarroll make birdies; cash for Murphy
Challenge Tour — Stephen Grant is just six shots off the pace at the halfway stage of the Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts.
Despite a double bogey seven at his fifth hole, the man from The Heritage added a one under 70 to his opening 67 to share 21st on five under at Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club.
England's Andrew Johnston carded a stunning 65 to move one shot clear of his compatriot Jason Barnes on 11 under par.
But he's unlikely to be resting on his laurels with a leaderboard packed full of experienced champions including two multiple European Tour winners in the shape of Bradley Dredge and Kenneth Ferrie chasing him down.
Rathmore's Alan Dunbar carded a second successive 69 to share 27th on two under but Gareth Shaw (71-74) and Ruaidhri McGee (72-75) missed the three under par cut.
- 131 A Johnston (Eng) 66 65,
- 132 J Barnes (Eng) 65 67,
- 133 T Pilkadaris (Aus) 66 67,
- 134 E Espana (Fra) 66 68, B Åkesson (Swe) 67 67, X Guzman (Esp) 70 64....
- 137 W Besseling (Ned) 70 67, R McEvoy (Eng) 67 70, M Lafeber (Ned) 70 67, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 69 68, S Grant (Irl) 67 70, L Jensen (Den) 69 68,
- 138 S Little (Eng) 66 72, D Law (Sco) 71 67, P Dwyer (Eng) 72 66, B Ritthammer (Ger) 69 69, T Nørret (Den) 66 72, D Coupland (Eng) 71 67, L Corfield (Eng) 66 72, S Hutsby (Eng) 69 69, A Dunbar (Nir) 69 69, S Dodd (Wal) 72 66, O Wilson (Eng) 68 70, A Marshall (Eng) 74 64, G Houston (Wal) 68 70, P Figueiredo (Por) 69 69, D Gaunt (Eng) 69 69, B An (Kor) 69 69, N Ravano (Ita) 70 68, P McKechnie (Sco) 70 68, J Stalter (Fra) 72 66, D Ulrich (Sui) 71 67
PGA Europro Tour — Mark Murphy tied for 17th as James Robinson won his second HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour title in the Buildbase Open at Frilford Heath.
Murphy shot a level par 72 to finish on five under and pick up £830 as Robinson, a winner as an amateur at Slaley Hall in 2010, took home the £10,000 winner’s prize.
Robinson, who broke the course record with a nine-under 63 in his opening round, followed a second round 70 for the second and then fended off the challenge of Jack Colegate with a 71 to win by one on 12 under.
Alps Tour — Brendan McCarroll fired five birdies in a three under 68 to move up to tied 10th at the halfway stage of the Alps de las Castillas event in Spain.
The Ballyliffin player is seven shots behind Spain's Borja Vitro, who added a 66 to his opening 68 to lead by two shots on eight under par at Golf Club Los Angeles de San Rafael outside Madrid.
Headfort's Brian Casey had a poor day, racking him nine bogeys as he followed his opening 68 with a 77 to slip back to tied 32nd on three over.
