Hoey and McGrane show form at Albatross
Matthew Fitzpatrick. Picture: Getty
Michael Hoey is chasing his sixth European Tour win in the Czech Republic but Damien McGrane is desperately seeking the €100,000 he needs to keep his tour card.
And both can still achieve their objectives in the D+D REAL Czech Masters, where rising star Matthew Fitzpatrick holed a 15 foot birdie putt on his final hole for a share of the halfway lead.
The Englishman, who turns 21 next Tuesday, also sank a 30ft eagle putt on the 12th hole in his five under par second round of 67 to move to 11 under par for the tournament, a total which was match by Sweden’s Pelle Edberg, who also birdied his final hole for a round of 67.
The former US Amateur Champion and Edberg are one shot clear of Belgian Thomas Pieters, who signed for round of 68 to move to ten under par, while English pair Robert Dinwiddie (67) and Sam Hutsby (70) and Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen share fourth position on eight under par, three shots behind the leading pair.
Hoey is tied seventh, just four behind the leaders on seven under after rounds of 67 and 70 while 44-year old McGrane is tied 12th on five under.
A 70 left him five shots outside the second place finish he needs to haul himself up from 183rd in the Race to Dubai and after missing just two greens on Friday, all is not lost.
Kevin Phelan, 105th in the Race to Dubai, is tied 36th on three under thanks to a scrambling 71 but Simon Thornton (69-75) and Peter Lawrie (71-74) missed the 143 cut.
Fitzpatrick said: “It was very consistent today. I played nicely and hit a lot of greens again which is always important to keep making pars and then take your chances when you have them.
"I gave myself a few out there. I got a bit frustrated in the middle of the round when I wasn’t holing any putts. I missed a few chances but picked it up on the back nine.”
Complete round two scores (par 72)
133 P Edberg (Swe) 66 67, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 66 67,
134 T Pieters (Bel) 66 68,
136 R Dinwiddie (Eng) 69 67, S Hutsby (Eng) 66 70, T Olesen (Den) 67 69,
137 E Pepperell (Eng) 69 68, M Hoey (Nir) 67 70,
138 R Paratore (Ita) 65 73, R Karlberg (Swe) 70 68, B Stow (Eng) 72 66,
139 M Foster (Eng) 67 72, F Fritsch (Ger) 69 70, S Jamieson (Sco) 67 72, C Arendell (USA) 72 67, M Ford (Eng) 71 68, D Dixon (Eng) 69 70, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 67 72, C Lee (Sco) 68 71, R Kakko (Fin) 67 72, J Lara (Esp) 71 68, S Griffiths (Eng) 71 68, M Schneider (Ger) 72 67, D McGrane (Irl) 69 70,
140 P Oriol (Esp) 67 73, D Lipsky (USA) 71 69, V Dubuisson (Fra) 72 68, M Decottignies-Lafon (Fra) 71 69, R Fox (Nzl) 73 67, J McLeary (Sco) 69 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 70, K Broberg (Swe) 67 73, B Ritthammer (Ger) 68 72, J Barnes (Eng) 69 71, L Slattery (Eng) 68 72,
141 G Porteous (Eng) 72 69, C Paisley (Eng) 69 72, D Im (USA) 68 73, M Tullo (Chi) 71 70, P Uihlein (USA) 70 71, E De La Riva (Esp) 65 76, K Phelan (Irl) 70 71, A Tadini (Ita) 71 70, O Fisher (Eng) 71 70, D Brooks (Eng) 69 72, J Parry (Eng) 70 71, R Evans (Eng) 73 68, A Saddier (Fra) 71 70, G Boyd (Eng) 69 72, J Makitalo (Fin) 71 70, S Henry (Sco) 69 72, V Novak (am) (Cze) 73 68,
142 B Evans (Eng) 71 71, A Wall (Eng) 72 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 69 73, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 73, M Nixon (Eng) 74 68, J Sjöholm (Swe) 70 72, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 73 69, P Maddy (Eng) 73 69,
143 L Jensen (Den) 71 72, P Meesawat (Tha) 70 73, H Otto (RSA) 71 72, E Espana (Fra) 71 72, C Bouniol (Fra) 70 73, F Praegant (Aut) 69 74, F Mruzek (Cze) 69 74, B Dredge (Wal) 74 69, S Hansen (Den) 71 72, P Whiteford (Sco) 70 73, G Storm (Eng) 70 73, J Knutzon (USA) 71 72, P Relecom (Bel) 68 75, S Kapur (Ind) 71 72, J Hahn (USA) 72 71, M Lundberg (Swe) 72 71, N Colsaerts (Bel) 73 70,
CUT
144 A Hansen (Den) 71 73, V Riu (Fra) 71 73, S Fallon (Eng) 73 71, S Thornton (Irl) 69 75, N Holman (Aus) 72 72, R Bland (Eng) 73 71, S Kim (USA) 72 72, P Hanson (Swe) 71 73, C Pigem (Esp) 74 70, C Del Moral (Esp) 70 74, S Wakefield (Eng) 69 75, T Lewis (Eng) 71 73, R Gonzalez (Arg) 72 72, J Walters (RSA) 71 73, J Scrivener (Aus) 72 72, R McEvoy (Eng) 77 67, A Otaegui (Esp) 72 72,
145 P Lawrie (Irl) 71 74, C Doak (Sco) 69 76, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 73 72, P Gal (Cze) 76 69, A Velasco (Esp) 73 72, S Dodd (Wal) 73 72, M Lampert (Ger) 73 72, T Murray (Eng) 72 73, D Horsey (Eng) 70 75, C Suk (Cze) 75 70, G Bhullar (Ind) 72 73, P Peterson (USA) 73 72, M Madsen (Den) 71 74, S Chawrasia (Ind) 72 73, N Quintarelli (Ita) 73 72,
146 P Archer (Eng) 75 71, J Singh (Ind) 76 70, J Edfors (Swe) 73 73, J Colomo (Esp) 76 70, O Henningsson (Swe) 72 74, R Coles (Eng) 73 73,
147 T Van Der Walt (RSA) 75 72, B Hebert (Fra) 72 75, D Stewart (Sco) 72 75, C Shinkwin (Eng) 72 75, R Finch (Eng) 70 77, M Jonzon (Swe) 73 74, C Lloyd (Eng) 74 73, N Fasth (Swe) 74 73, M Bremner (RSA) 74 73, V Phillips (Eng) 75 72,
148 A Korinek (Cze) 75 73, A Pavan (Ita) 71 77, R Santos (Por) 78 70, S Benson (Eng) 73 75, L Bjerregaard (Den) 76 72,
149 D Woltman (USA) 74 75, M Korhonen (Fin) 75 74, D Gaunt (Aus) 74 75, J Roos (RSA) 74 75, J Morrison (Eng) 75 74, S Matus (Cze) 73 76,
150 R McGowan (Eng) 78 72, O Farr (Wal) 74 76, D Fichardt (RSA) 70 80,
151 E Goya (Arg) 79 72, A Hortal (Esp) 74 77, M Novy (Cze) 74 77, A Ahokas (Fin) 74 77, D Suchan (Cze) 73 78,
152 D Van Tonder (RSA) 77 75,
153 L Tintera (Cze) 77 76, J Huldahl (Den) 77 76, M Brezovsky (am) (Svk) 75 78,
154 A Gee (Eng) 79 75, A Rajmont (Cze) 75 79,
155 M Crespi (Ita) 75 80,
156 J Janda (Cze) 77 79,
157 A Pavlov (Rus) 80 77, M Pospisil (am) (Cze) 79 78,
161 P Dedek (am) (Cze) 80 81,
162 J Friesz (am) (Svk) 80 82.
