Purcell flies the flag in Sweden
Conor Purcell. Picture: INPHO
Portmarnock's Conor Purcell fired a three-under 69 to go into the weekend just four shots off the lead in the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf at Hinton Golf Club in Malmo.
He's tied 10th behind Poland's Mateusz Gradecki and Scotland's Craig Howie, who shot six-under 66s to lead by a shot on 13-under from home hope Anton Karlsson.
Purcell (23) was six-under for his first ten holes but dropped three shots coming in as the wind got up and the greens slowed.
“I am happy enough with the first two rounds,’ the former South of Ireland and Australian Amateur Open winner said. “Obviously I dropped a few in but the wind picked up a little bit on the back nine there this morning and that just made a few shots a little bit trickier than first thing in the morning.
“But I played nicely and got myself into a good position. After 10 holes I was six under and probably just made two or three bad swings coming in that cost me a few shots. But I am pretty happy with where I am. There are plenty of birdies out there on that course if you can manage to hold a few putts.
“The greens slowed down a little bit this afternoon which caused me to leave a few putts short but other than that everything‘s going well and I’m happy with my position for the weekend.”
Paul McBride finished a shot outside the five-under-par cut mark after a brace of 70s with Gavin Moynihan a shot further back after a 69.
Mallow's James Sugrue was undone by a nightmare triple-bogey, bogey, bogey start and carded a 74 to finish on level par with Robin Dawson four -over after a 74.
Co-leader Gradecki is yet to card a bogey this week and after finishing with back-to-back birdies he is well-placed to mount a title challenge over the weekend.
“I played very similar to yesterday, probably better tee to green,” he said. “It was actually one of the most solid rounds of golf I’ve ever played. I missed two very short putts for another two birdies, but I’m very pleased.
“I feel pretty comfortable with every part of my game at the moment. Putting has always been the strongest part of my game and recently my driving has been very good and my approaches are getting better, so I feel comfortable hitting at different pins.
“I think it suits my game. I’m pretty accurate off the tee and when I’m on the fairway here I have a lot of wedges and a lot of opportunities so I can hit at different pins and attack the golf course. That’s my strategy and I look forward to continue doing it.”
Scotland’s Howie dropped only a single shot during his second round and, despite posting a round of 66, was disappointed to miss out on further scoring opportunities on the par fives.
“I’m playing really nicely, so there are a lot of positives,” he said. “I maybe left a couple of shots out there; I played the par fives quite poorly, so there is that little bit of frustration that I could’ve gone really low, but anytime you shoot 66, you can’t really be too fussed.
“I think the golf course suits me. I like to fade it off the tee and there are a lot of fade holes. If you can drive it well then there are so many chances out there. You’re not going to hole every putt so you’ve just got to stay patient and I think I’ve done that really well.”
Six players share fourth place on ten under par, including Swedish duo Christofer Blomstrand and Jens Dantorp, Frenchman Edouard Dubois, Spain’s Mario Galiano Aguilar, Dodge Kemmer, from the USA. and Australia’s Blake Windred.
There were 61 players who made the cut, which fell at five under par, and the third round of the Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf will begin at 9:00 am local time on Saturday, May 15.
Range Servant Challenge by Hinton Golf, Hinton Golf Club, Malmö, Sweden (Par 72)
131 M Gradecki (Pol) 65 66, C Howie (Sco) 65 66,
132 A Karlsson (Swe) 67 65,
134 E Dubois (Fra) 68 66, J Dantorp (Swe) 68 66, C Blomstrand (Swe) 65 69, M Galiano Aguilar (Esp) 68 66, B Windred (Aus) 68 66, D Kemmer (USA) 68 66,
135 D Papadatos (Aus) 67 68, S Gros (Fra) 68 67, M Helligkilde (Den) 66 69, H Long (Ger) 66 69, J Brun (Fra) 66 69, M Svensson (Swe) 69 66, Conor Purcell (Irl) 66 69, N Moller (Den) 68 67, E Ferguson (Sco) 69 66, E Kofstad (Nor) 65 70,
136 B Hellgren (Swe) 68 68, V Riu (Fra) 69 67,
137 O Farrell (Eng) 70 67, M Lindberg (Swe) 66 71, L Scalise (Ita) 69 68, T Baltl (Aut) 66 71, G Boyd (Eng) 69 68, A Blomme (Swe) 69 68, C Berardo (Fra) 68 69, D Hillier (Nzl) 67 70, R Petersson (Swe) 68 69, O Bekker (RSA) 69 68, B Virto (Esp) 65 72,
138 N Kristensen (Den) 70 68, L Vacarisas (Esp) 70 68, D Young (Sco) 68 70, J Blaauw (RSA) 72 66, U Coussaud (Fra) 67 71, G Kristjansson (Isl) 68 70, J Freiburghaus (Sui) 68 70, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 69 69, W Nienaber (RSA) 70 68, M Manassero (Ita) 71 67, M Siem (Ger) 70 68, J Asp (Swe) 68 70, A Eineving (Swe) 69 69, D Boote (Wal) 68 70,
139 T Clements (Eng) 68 71, C Sahlstrom (Swe) 69 70, S Henry (Sco) 70 69, F Lacroix (Fra) 70 69, M Eriksson (Swe) 68 71, S Zach (Cze) 71 68, D Foos (Ger) 68 71, A Wilson (Eng) 72 67, C Cannon (Eng) 70 69, B Jones (Eng) 70 69, T Koivisto (USA) 68 71, J Ko (Fra) 72 67, C Lindh (Swe) 72 67, H Bergman (Swe) 69 70, J Svensson (Swe) 69 70,
CUT
140 D Borda (Esp) 72 68, T Plumb (Eng) 69 71, D Perrier (Fra) 68 72, M Rohwer (RSA) 69 71, Paul McBride (Irl) 70 70, J Girrbach (Sui) 67 73, F Palson (Swe) 70 70, E Bertheussen (Nor) 70 70, N Fenwick (Sco) 68 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 69 71, K Johannessen (Nor) 70 70, M Iten (Sui) 68 72,
141 S Fernandez (Esp) 74 67, N Weiland (Swe) 71 70, M Ortolani (Ita) 72 69, C Ross (Sco) 69 72, J Arnoy (Nor) 71 70, J Sandborg (Swe) 69 72, K Koivu (Fin) 70 71, B Rusch (Sui) 69 72, F Mruzek (Cze) 70 71, J Paul (Ger) 68 73, A Arizabaleta (Col) 70 71, Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 72 69, C Hanna (USA) 69 72, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 74 67, N Johansson (Swe) 72 69, B Akesson (Swe) 69 72, A Tiden (Swe) 73 68, W Enefer (Eng) 71 70,
142 D Gavins (Eng) 70 72, J Garcia Del Moral (Esp) 71 71, T Sloman (Eng) 71 71, C Feldborg Nielsen (Swe) 74 68, J Kolbing (Ger) 69 73, L Ruuska (Fin) 70 72, F Schott (Ger) 74 68, D Lawson (Aus) 70 72, M Elvira (Esp) 71 71, J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 70 72, G King (Eng) 69 73,
143 N Kimsey (Eng) 71 72, E Lindwall (Swe) 73 70, S Tarrio (Esp) 73 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 72 71, M Orrin (Eng) 72 71, M Carlsson (Swe) 73 70, A Plant (Eng) 73 70, H Sturehed (Swe) 73 70, A Bjornsson (Isl) 72 71, S Forsstrom (Swe) 72 71,
144 A Knappe (Ger) 74 70, P Langfors (Swe) 75 69, J Oakley (Eng) 73 71, A Kopp (Aut) 72 72, O Gillberg (Swe) 69 75, G Andersson (Swe) 71 73, H Ellis (Eng) 74 70, Y Paul (Ger) 73 71, F Nilehn (Swe) 75 69, B Moore (Eng) 72 72, James Sugrue (Irl) 70 74, L Johnston (Sco) 71 73, J Jones (Can) 71 73, O Hundeboll (Den) 74 70,
145 L Nemecz (Aut) 72 73, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 74, R Evans (Eng) 70 75, B Neil (Sco) 76 69, J Bekirian (Fra) 71 74,
146 J Kahlos (Fin) 71 75, J Felton (Aus) 73 73, E Walker (Sco) 75 71, A Lindvall (Swe) 75 71, J Wrisdale (Eng) 74 72, C Robb (Sco) 71 75,
147 J Kennegard (Swe) 74 73, S Gregory (Eng) 73 74,
148 Robin Dawson (Irl) 74 74, J Thomson (Eng) 72 76, S Del Val (Esp) 74 74, A Ahokas (Fin) 78 70,
149 G Stal (Fra) 76 73, C Braeunig (Ger) 73 76,
150 J Harrison (Eng) 76 74,
151 H Magnus (Isl) 75 76, B Easton (RSA) 76 75, C Rhodin (Swe) 77 74,
152 J Lando Casanova (Fra) 73 79,
Out T Rosenm?ller (Ger) 76 Wd, P Eriksson (Swe) 76 Wd,
