Murphy and Egan set the pace as young guns lurk in Munster Stroke Play
Eoin Murphy (Dundalk) on the 2nd tee during Round 1 of the Munster Stroke Play Championship 2020, Cork Golf Club, Cork, Co. Cork, Ireland. 05/09/2020 Picture: Golffile | Thos Caffrey
Some of Ireland's up and coming young players are starting to strut their stuff at senior level and a new face may join the championship winners and claim the Munster Stroke Play Championship at Cork Golf Club.
Dundalk's Eoin Murphy and international Keith Egan from Carton House lead by a shot a halfway from Thurles' Aaron Ryan and Newlands' Jake Whelan with Seapoint tyro Dylan Keating lurking alone in fifth on six-under.
The top 24 players are covered by just eight strokes which means that the title race is wide open in the second event in the Bridgestone Order of Merit series for 2020.
A regular Senior Cup campaigner with Dundalk, Murphy added a 70 to his opening, six-under-par 66 to set the pace alongside Egan, who followed a 71 with a best of the day 65 as he bids to go one better than last year's South of Ireland Championship runner-up finish to Monkstown's Sean Desmond.
"I'm happy out," Murphy said. "It was nice to get a good start this morning and get a quick start with plenty of birdies. It sort of takes the pressure off a wee bit. I had a great start this morning and even this afternoon getting two early birdies helped settle it down again."
The only blemish on Murphy's card, a double-bogey on the seventh hole of his second round.
"I was a wee bit unlucky on seven, I just hit one right and it cost me a double-bogey but apart from that it was pretty clean".
Egan's run of form began towards the end of his opening round with a birdie on the 18th leaving him in the red on one-under. The shortest club in the bag was the main difference for his second round.
"I played very similarly this afternoon to what I did this morning," Egan said afterwards. "It's just I putted much better. I had a bad front nine this morning with the putter and just struggled throughout the whole round. I holed a couple of good putts early on in the afternoon and just kept it going. I was three-under after six and just kept the momentum going".
The leading pair sit one clear Thurles talent Ryan and the experienced Whelan, who both followed 66's with 71's to lurk on seven-under-par.
Recently crowned Connacht and Ulster Boys champion Keating (18) is arguably the form player in the field given his recent run of success but the likes of Baltinglass' Joseph Byrne, who sits just three shots off the pace after a 67, cannot be discounted.
With Peter O'Keeffe on four-under and Walker Cup star Caolan Rafferty, the world number 17, two-under after a brace of 71's, there's every chance that the leaders will be under pressure to match a formidable clubhouse target after 36 holes on Sunday.
Dun Laoghaire’s Keith Murphy will be looking to go low again after he followed a 78 with a six-birdie 67 to share 15th on one-under.
Recent Mullingar Scratch Trophy winner Jason Rackard from Enniscorthy is well-placed on level par alongside the likes of former winner Alan Fahy from Dun Laoghaire and multiple championship winner Colm Campbell from Warrenpoint while defending champion Joe Lyons made the three-over cut on the mark.
So to did Laytown and Bettystown's Cian Geraghty following the turnaround of the day. Geraghty was seven over after a morning 79 but bounced back by rattling in five birdies in a 67 in the afternoon to make the last two rounds.
Munster Stroke Play Championship, Cork Golf Club (Par 72)
136 K Egan (Carton House) 71 65, E Murphy (Dundalk) 66 70
137 A Ryan (Thurles) 66 71, J Whelan (Newlands) 66 71
138 D Keating (Seapoint) 68 70
139 J Byrne (Baltinglass) 72 67
140 L Nolan (Galway) 71 69, L Grehan (Mullingar) 71 69, P O’Keeffe (Douglas) 70 70, P Coughlan (Castleknock) 70 70, A McCormack (Castletroy) 69 71
142 J McCabe (Roganstown) 73 69, B Murray (Waterford Castle) 73 69, C Rafferty (Dundalk) 71 71
143 K Murphy (Dun Laoghaire) 76 67, G O’Mahony (Fota Island ) 73 70 , G O’Flaherty (Cork) 72 71
144 A Fahy (Dun Laoghaire) 74 70, J Rackard (Enniscorthy) 73 71, J Keane (Lahinch) 72 72, C Campbell Jnr (Warrenpoint) 72 72, TJ Ford (Co. Sligo) 72 72, R Abernethy (Dun Laoghaire) 71 73
145 S Desmond (Monkstown ) 74 71, G Cullen (The Links Portmarnock) 74 71, C Ryan (Dun Laoghaire) 74 71, G Collins (Rosslare) 73 72, G Lenehan (Portmarnock ) 71 74, C Taylor, (Kanturk) 70 75
146 S Murphy (Portumna) 76 70, T Dowdall (Woodbrook) 74 72, R Gribben (Warrenpoint) 73 73, P Buckley (Cork) 71 75
147 C Geraghty (Laytown & Bettystown) 79 68, AJ McCabe (The Links Portmarnock) 76 71, D Flynn (Carton House) 75 72, S McDermott (Co. Cavan) 74 73, J Lyons (Galway) 74 73, J McDonnell (Forrest Little) 73 74, G Lappin (Belvoir Park) 73 74, J Hewitt (Tandragee) 72 75, R Knightly (Royal Dublin) 69 78
Non-qualifiers
148 D McMahon (Castletroy) 77 71, I Bohane (Lee Valley) 74 74, R Dutton (Tandragee) 73 75, I O’Flynn (Cork) 73 75, H Gillivan (Westport) 71 77
149 J Knipe (Royal Portrush) 76 73, E Sullivan (Carton House) 75 74, G Ward (Kinsale) 75 74, F Hickey (Muskerry) 74 75, I O’Rourke (Cork) 74 75, I Lynch (Rosslare) 73 76
150 E O’Donnell (Tralee) 77 73, S Hogan (Nenagh) 76 74
151 M Deasy (Lee Valley) 77 74, J Blake (The Island) 76 75. G Dunne (Co. Louth) 75 76, S Flanagan (Portmarnock) 74 77, E Shipp (Headfort) 73 78
152 D Mulligan (The Links Portmarnock) 80 72, D Kitt (Athenry) 78 74, J Temple (Portmarnock) 76 76, R Milne (Faithlegg) 74 78
154 P Flynn (Tramore) 73 81
155 P Connolly (Killeen Castle) 82 73, D Reddan Jnr (Nenagh) 77 78
156 E Griffin (Waterford) 77 79, C Butler (Kinsale) 72 84
158 A Smith (Mullingar) 81 77
159 I O’Connell (Castleknock) 84 75
165 D Shiel (Powerscourt) 86 79
NR S O’Connor (Castlebar) 72 NR, J O’Sullivan (Cork) 83 NR, M McKinstry (Cairndhu) 79 NR
