Work to do for Irish as Molinari leads Q-School

Edoardo Molinari. Picture: Getty Images

Gary Hurley, Max Kennedy and Dermot McElroy have work to do to make the 72-hole cut at the Final Stage of the DP World Tour Qualifying School.

The top 65 and ties will make the final 36 holes at Infinitum Golf in Tarragona but only Hurley is inside that mark as he bids to make the top 20 and ties who will earn conditional cards.

Hurley shot a bogey-free, four under 67 on the Lakes Course to share 60th on four under.

Royal Dublin amateur Kennedy shot a two under 70 on the Hills Course to share 79th on three under.

But McElroy is 105th on one under after a 75 on the Hill, where he went out in 43 with two double bogeys and three bogeys in his first seven holes before undoing some of the damage by starting the back nine with four straight birdies.

At the top of the leaderboard, Edoardo Molinari posted a blistering ten under par round of 61 on the Lakes Course to move five shots clear after round two.

The three-time DP World Tour winner and Ryder Cup Vice Captain carded nine birdies, one eagle and a solitary bogey to reach 17 under par for the week and jump five clear of overnight leader Félix Mory from France and Norwegian Alexander Settemsdal who share second on 12 under.

Molinari admits he arrived in Tarragona well-prepared for the six-round marathon and has been pleased will all facets of his game on the opening two days.

“I hit the ball very good today and I had lots and lots of chances,” he said. “My putting was okay and I chipped in a couple of times from just off the green which obviously helped.

“From tee to green was extremely good today. It’s obviously very low scoring which doesn’t normally suit my game but I’ve been putting much better in the last six months which helps around here.

“The last month or so I knew I was going to lose my card, so I tried to get ready for this week and so far I’ve been doing pretty good so hopefully I can keep it going.”

Molinari is no stranger to Q-School having come through ‘golf’s toughest test’ in 2015 and 2016, and says patience will be key as he looks to carry his good form into the final four rounds.

“It’s always nice to get off to a good start but there’s still a lot of golf to be played and hopefully I can keep playing as good as I did today and keep shooting low scores,” he added.

“It’s a long week for everyone with it being six rounds. I think at the end of the week, if you’re playing well, you’re going to finish in that top 20. I think you just have to be patient.

“Being here, you just have to accept it, get back to work and grind it out and shoot better scores. That’s what I’m trying to do.”

Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist occupies solo fourth on 11 under par, with countryman Clément Sordet one shot further back in fifth.

Six players share sixth on nine under par, including English duo Eddie Pepperell and Callan Barrow, Dutchman Wil Besseling, South African Neil Schietekat, American Ben Sigel and Alexander George Frances from Denmark.

The third round of Final Stage Qualifying School gets under way at 9:00am with Molinari teeing off alongside Mory and Settemsdal on the Hills Course at 11:12am.

Scores after round two:

126 E MOLINARI (ITA) 65 61, 

131 F MORY (FRA) 61 70, A SETTEMSDAL (NOR) 68 63, 

132 R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 66 66, 

133 C SORDET (FRA) 67 66, 

134 W BESSELING (NED) 64 70, C BARROW (ENG) 63 71, A FRANCES (DEN) 65 69, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 70 64, N SCHIETEKAT (RSA) 69 65, B SIGEL (USA) 69 65, 

135 J BERRY (ENG) 65 70, N LEMKE (SWE) 66 69, L NEMECZ (AUT) 62 73, D LAW (SCO) 67 68, D ERICKSON (USA) 64 71, G MORGAN (CHI) 69 66, S JONES (NZL) 69 66, A HALVORSEN (NOR) 71 64, S GARCIA (ESP) 65 70, J AXELSEN (DEN) 66 69, D LIST (AUS) 72 63, 

——Top 20 and ties—-

136 B AMAT (FRA) 66 70, A BONETA (ESP) 66 70, J OLESEN (AM) (DEN) 65 71, F CELLI (ITA) 67 69, M MILLER (USA) 64 72, M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 73 63, D BRYANT (USA) 69 67, J FAHRBRING (SWE) 70 66, A WU (CHN) 68 68, B VIRTO (ESP) 66 70, A PLANT (ENG) 69 67, J BEKIRIAN (ARM) 69 67, 

137 M CHEUNG (HKG) 68 69, N LEGENDRE (FRA) 69 68, J GOLDENBERG (USA) 69 68, L SCALISE (ITA) 66 71, J HARDING (RSA) 66 71, B SKOGEN (NOR) 68 69, B FOLLETT-SMITH (ZIM) 70 67, P JACKSON (USA) 66 71, M STEINLECHNER (AUT) 71 66, W NIENABER (RSA) 73 64, M SHARPSTENE (USA) 68 69, 

138 N CARLSON (USA) 70 68, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 68 70, P KATICH (GER) 72 66, J GOTH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 71 67, D BORIBOONSUB (THA) 70 68, C JACOBSEN (DEN) 70 68, M ROTTLUFF (GER) 74 64, A WALLIN (SWE) 70 68, J ZUSKA (CZE) 71 67, G EVANS (ENG) 71 67, H BARRON (AUS) 77 61, C SHAUN (USA) 68 70, O WILSON (ENG) 70 68, S GROS (FRA) 70 68, 

139 S STEVENS (USA) 68 71, F KENNEDY (ENG) 68 71, H STUREHED (SWE) 71 68, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 69 70, R THOMAS (IND) 67 72, G DE LEO (ITA) 70 69, M BESARD (BEL) 69 70, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 70 69, J PERICO (PER) 70 69, J BROOMHEAD (RSA) 70 69, G HURLEY (IRL) 72 67, R PARATORE (ITA) 72 67, T TETAK (SVK) 73 66, A ARNAUS (ESP) 71 68, T CHRISTENSEN (AM) (GER) 73 66, J RUTHERFORD (ENG) 71 68, S HUTSBY (ENG) 72 67, B SCHMIDT (ENG) 73 66, W ENEFER (ENG) 72 67, 

—-Top 65 and ties—-

140 R ENOCH (WAL) 68 72, T SLOMAN (ENG) 70 70, M KENNEDY (AM) (IRL) 70 70, C HANNA (USA) 71 69, B BERRY (USA) 70 70, B COLETTA (AUS) 66 74, T HUNT (WAL) 67 73, C WOOD (ENG) 72 68, B RUSCH (SUI) 64 76, J MORRISON (ENG) 70 70, M FERNANDEZ DE OLIVEIRA (ARG) 74 66, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 71 69, D PERRIER (FRA) 73 67, G WIEBE (USA) 72 68, 

141 S CROSS (USA) 68 73, S TALWAR (IND) 70 71, C BRING (DEN) 70 71, R JOHNSTON (USA) 71 70, C REITER (USA) 71 70, F SCHOTT (GER) 65 76, A CHEEMA (IND) 70 71, R EVANS (ENG) 74 67, D NYFJALL (SWE) 72 69, N KRISTENSEN (DEN) 74 67, T THURLOWAY (ENG) 72 69, A EJLERSEN (DEN) 70 71, 

142 G HALL (USA) 70 72, R PETERSSON (SWE) 72 70, L MASAVEU (ESP) 73 69, H HOPEWELL (AUS) 68 74, C JOHN (AUS) 71 71, S TARRIO (ESP) 70 72, D MCELROY (NIR) 67 75, I ZALLI (ALB) 69 73, J TORRES (ESP) 69 73, J FLOYDD (ENG) 66 76, R LUMSDEN (SCO) 72 70, A ALBERS (GER) 77 65, T ED?N (SWE) 76 66, J FREIBURGHAUS (SUI) 72 70, J WALTERS (RSA) 73 69, D HUIZING (NED) 74 68, J NICHOLAS (USA) 72 70, J MEYER DE BECO (BEL) 73 69, A KELLY (AUS) 72 70, L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 74 68, G COETZEE (RSA) 71 71, T SINNOTT (AUS) 74 68, 

143 T POWER HORAN (AUS) 70 73, T SHADBOLT (ENG) 71 72, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 74, M WARREN (SCO) 73 70, J RITCHIE (RSA) 70 73, B GILL (ENG) 71 72, J HRINDA (SVK) 71 72, 

144 J ETULAIN (ARG) 71 73, M HAMMER (GER) 75 69, 

145 D HORSEY (ENG) 69 76, C HANSON (ENG) 76 69, A VERDONK (NED) 74 71, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 72 73, S MANLEY (WAL) 74 71, R KAMINSKI (RSA) 73 72, S SYR (NOR) 72 73, 

146 C CROCKETT (ENG) 73 73, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 72 74, T LEWIS (ENG) 69 77, W DE VRIES (NED) 74 72, L SLATTERY (ENG) 74 72, T TILLMANNS (GER) 76 70, 

147 V VAN VEEN (NED) 74 73, T FUNK (USA) 69 78, K KOUWENAAR (NED) 72 75, A LAUSSOT (FRA) 69 78, 

149 M GRIFFIN (AUS) 72 77, 

150 J WINSLOW (USA) 71 79, G KRISTJANSSON (ISL) 75 75, 

153 R FOLEY (SUI) 80 73