Michael Hoey is getting stronger all the time as a European Tour player. Picture: David Lloyd / www.golffile.ie — Michael Hoey is getting stronger all the time as a European Tour player. Picture: David Lloyd / www.golffile.ie

Michael Hoey showed just how mentally resilient he has become when he came back from a triple bogey seven at his first hole of the day to remain in contention for the BMW International Open in Cologne.

The Belfast man put aside all thoughts of struggling to make the cut and went on to make nine birdies, playing the remaining 17 holes in six under par to finish the day tied for 11th on nine under with Shane Lowry, who appears certain now to qualify for The Open having pieced together an impressive four under par 68 in the afternoon.

Rafa Cabera-Bello (68) and Pablo Larrazábal (63) were joined on 12 under par by 2012 BMW International Open Champion Danny Willett (68) and Argentina’s Emiliano Grillo (66), two shots clear of six players.

But Hoey and Lowry are right there, just three shots off the pace in a tie for 11th place at the Jack Nicklaus designed Golf Club Gut Lärchenhof.

Lowry needed to make the cut ensure that he remains in the top 20 in the Order of Merit to claim his spot in the field at Hoylake in just over a fortnight and accomplish that feat with ease as birded two of his last three holes and broke 30 putts for the second day running.

Now Hoey has a chance to claim his sixth European Tour win in as many season, having survived what could have been a morale-crushing blow on the opening hole.

Michael Hoey (NIR) recovered well from a triple bogey first hole to remain in contention in the BMW International Open. Picture: David Lloyd / www.golffile.ie

"Rollercoaster," Hoey told European Tour Radio's Nick Dye after the round. "I lifted my head on a bunker shot on the first, went into a bush, had nothing, had to drop back in the bunker, it plugged....it's a bit unfair...it's a triple bogey.

"I went birdie-birdie-birdie the next three. Think I made nine birdie today, four pars. So it was a massive rollercoaster but I hit the ball good and putted good and finished with a birdie."

Reflecting on his recovery, he said: "Yeah, triple bogey. You're thinking, 'i've got to play well to make the cut.' So I'm trying not to think about that and then birdie-birdie-birdie. So yeah, good swings after that. You've got to put it behind you. It's tough. Golf is a mental game. Basically I was six under par after the first. So hopefully no more disasters the next couple of days.

"I'm swinging well. Last week (Fota Island) was a top-10. Hopefully I can do a bit more this week. I've been pretty consistent this year, so that's the main satisfying thing."

Damien McGrane was the only other Irishman to make the cut, picking up birdies at the 15th and 17th to move comfortably inside cut mark before a bogey at the last saw him card a 71 to make it on the four under par limit.

For the rest, it was a weekend off with Gareth Maybin missing by one after rounds of 71 and 70 with Kevin Phelan two outside after a costly 74.

European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley's homeward 32 for a 71 was too little too late as he missed out by three shots on one under.

Peter Lawrie (73-74) hit just three fairways to finish on four over and while Simon Thornton (76-74) simply never got anything going.

US Open champion Martin Kaymer was unable to turn his score around and comfortably missed the cut by four shots after a disappointing 73.

Larrazabal made the greatest gain with a nine under par 63 to reach 12 under 132, a 36 hole total matched by Grillo with a 66, and the two overnight leaders Cabrera-Bello and Willett who shot matching 68s.

The cut fell at four under par, just one short of the lowest of the European Tour season.

After 36 holes

132 R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 64 68, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 63, E Grillo (Arg) 66 66, D Willett (Eng) 64 68,

134 R Karlsson (Swe) 68 66, C Lee (Sco) 69 65, M Jiménez (Esp) 67 67, A Hartø (Den) 68 66, A Cejka (Ger) 68 66, B Grace (RSA) 67 67,

135 S Dyson (Eng) 69 66, G Stal (Fra) 66 69, N Elvira (Esp) 67 68, S Lowry (Irl) 67 68, M Hoey (Nir) 66 69, P Waring (Eng) 72 63, A Sullivan (Eng) 66 69, R Wattel (Fra) 67 68,

136 M Nixon (Eng) 69 67, E Pepperell (Eng) 72 64, T Hatton (Eng) 69 67, J Dantorp (Swe) 68 68, S Walker (Eng) 67 69, T Björn (Den) 70 66, G Havret (Fra) 71 65, M Siem (Ger) 70 66, H Stenson (Swe) 68 68, C Del Moral (Esp) 68 68,

137 A Levy (Fra) 70 67, J Kruger (RSA) 72 65, J Daly (USA) 70 67, T Jaidee (Tha) 71 66, G Bhullar (Ind) 67 70, A Cañizares (Esp) 70 67, F Molinari (Ita) 71 66, S Garcia (Esp) 71 66,

138 M Madsen (Den) 70 68, J Donaldson (Wal) 71 67, J Campillo (Esp) 67 71, W Ormsby (Aus) 71 67, D Im (USA) 68 70, O Fisher (Eng) 72 66, A Wall (Eng) 69 69, A Hansen (Den) 66 72,

139 T Fleetwood (Eng) 70 69, J Knutzon (USA) 70 69, F Zanotti (Par) 72 67, E Goya (Arg) 72 67, J Quesne (Fra) 71 68, G Storm (Eng) 66 73, T Lewis (Eng) 67 72, M Foster (Eng) 70 69,

140 M Korhonen (Fin) 69 71, A Gee (Eng) 71 69, P Casey (Eng) 73 67, V Dubuisson (Fra) 71 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 69 71, A Saddier (Fra) 70 70, D McGrane (Irl) 69 71, R Fisher (Eng) 70 70, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 68, M Ilonen (Fin) 68 72, R Green (Aus) 72 68, J Carlsson (Swe) 68 72, J Hansen (Den) 70 70, J Heath (Eng) 75 65, C Wood (Eng) 70 70, J Walters (RSA) 71 69, M Röhrig (am) (Ger) 73 67,

CUT

141 R Bland (Eng) 72 69, A Quiros (Esp) 66 75, P Lawrie (Sco) 72 69, F Aguilar (Chi) 72 69, B Paolini (USA) 72 69, J Singh (Ind) 71 70, R Santos (Por) 73 68, A Lahiri (Ind) 68 73, S Wakefield (Eng) 71 70, J Doherty (Sco) 71 70, G Maybin (Nir) 71 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 69 72, S Khan (Eng) 71 70, M Baldwin (Eng) 68 73,

142 J Morrison (Eng) 69 73, K Phelan (Irl) 68 74, P Price (Wal) 76 66, S Kapur (Ind) 73 69, M Schneider (Ger) 69 73, R Kakko (Fin) 75 67, B Wiesberger (Aut) 68 74, D Howell (Eng) 69 73, M Crespi (Ita) 73 69, S Hansen (Den) 74 68,

143 S Manley (Wal) 70 73, T Aiken (RSA) 70 73, E Molinari (Ita) 72 71, D Huizing (Ned) 71 72, P McGinley (Irl) 72 71, W Huang (Chn) 74 69, S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 75, P Hedblom (Swe) 74 69,

144 F Calmels (Fra) 73 71, R Rock (Eng) 73 71, M Kaymer (Ger) 71 73, E De La Riva (Esp) 71 73, M Warren (Sco) 75 69, R Finch (Eng) 72 72, V Riu (Fra) 70 74,

145 M Carlsson (Swe) 72 73, L Slattery (Eng) 73 72, J Lara (Esp) 72 73, R Ramsay (Sco) 71 74, T Levet (Fra) 72 73, J Edfors (Swe) 74 71, C Arendell (USA) 73 72, R Jacquelin (Fra) 72 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 68 77, T Olesen (Den) 76 69, D Lynn (Eng) 74 71, A Kaleka (Fra) 72 73,

146 A Otaegui (Esp) 72 74, D Fichardt (RSA) 75 71, M Lundberg (Swe) 73 73, C Doak (Sco) 72 74, T Pieters (Bel) 72 74, N Dougherty (Eng) 76 70, S Kim (Kor) 77 69, D Horsey (Eng) 70 76, D Foos (am) (Ger) 71 75,

147 L Bjerregaard (Den) 76 71, M Glauert (Ger) 75 72, J McLeary (Sco) 75 72, N Fasth (Swe) 70 77,

148 A Pavan (Ita) 76 72, P Sjöland (Swe) 76 72, M Kramer (Ger) 75 73, S Jamieson (Sco) 75 73, P Lawrie (Irl) 73 75, J Jeong (Kor) 75 73,

149 K Broberg (Swe) 72 77, J Lima (Por) 73 76, A Forsyth (Sco) 72 77,

150 J Olazábal (Esp) 77 73, S Thornton (Irl) 76 74, M Grönberg (Swe) 79 71,

151 G Coetzee (RSA) 72 79, P Uihlein (USA) 80 71, A Knappe (Ger) 74 77, P Whiteford (Sco) 80 71, B Rumford (Aus) 73 78,

153 A Kirstein (Ger) 75 78,

154 J Parry (Eng) 74 80,

** E Dubois (Fra) 75 DQ, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 83 DQ, D Brooks (Eng) 77 DQ, D Higgins (Irl) 75 DQ,