Niall Kearney took advantage of calm early conditions a fired a six-under 64 to lie just two shots behind clubhouse leaders Ashun Wu and Guido Migliozzi in the Gran Canaria Lopesan Open. 

China’s Wu shot a nine under 61 and Italian star Migliozzi an eight-under 62 to set the target at 14-under.

Scores

But Kearney was just two shots further back on 12-under as he offset his lone bogey at the ninth with birdies at the first, second, fourth and seventh, 10th, 13th and 18th.

“I drove it into a bunker on the ninth and just had to come out sideways so that cost me a shot,” Kearney said. “But I got it going early. The putter warmed up on the front side, which was good and I managed to get a little bit of a momentum early.

“The last couple of days I’ve been over par whereas today I was under par and I was able to get it going.”

Kearney got the best of the early conditions after being forced to work hard for a 68 in Friday’s afternoon breezes.

“I was pleased to get in before the wind got up because yesterday was tough,” the Royal Dublin man said. “I was out at 2:50 yesterday and felt like we got the tougher part of the day. So it was nice to get out early today. 

“The greens were fresh and it was a little bit calmer so it was easier to score.”