Alps Tour — West Waterford’s Gary Hurley heads the three Irish survivors into the final round of the Winter Series Golf Nazionale after a demanding second day in Rome.

Just 21 players in the 132-strong field broke par with the best score a 68 by Austrian Florian Thuller.

It did Thuller little good as he’d shot 81 on day one and so missed the three-over-par cut by two strokes.

Switzerland’s Mathias Eggenberger shot a one-under 71 to lead by two shots from Italian Stefano Mazzoli and Frenchman Tom Vaillant on six-under-par.

Scores

Hurley is tied 10th on one-under after a second-round 75 on firm, sloping greens on what is regarded as one of the hardest course in Italy.

Naas’s Jonathan Yates is tied 21st on one-over after an excellent 71 while Paul McBride made it on the three-over cut mark despite dropping four shots in his last four holes for a 76.

David Carey, (75 for four-over), James Sugrue (74 for six-over), Simon Bryan (79, seven-over), Conor Purcell (74, eight-over), Michael Young (81, eight-over) and Luke Donnelly (81, 11-over) missed the cut.