Conor Purcell remains in contention for his maiden Challenge Tour win but he’s bracing himself for a tough weekend in the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open.

The Portmarnock man is making his first start of the season at Royal Cape and he’s pleased to go into the weekend just a shot behind a 10-strong leading bunch after adding a three-under 69 to his opening 67,

“It was a little bit scrappier than yesterday,” said Purcell, who made an eagle, three birdies and two bogeys to share 11th place on eight-under, just a single shot behind South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen, Deon Germishuys, Gerhard Pepler and Rhys West, Englishmen Sam Hustby,  Alfie Plant and James Allan, Haraldur Magnus from Iceland, Finn Tapio Pulkkanen and Frenchman Benjamin Hébert/

“The back nine, which is the scoreable nine, I didn't keep myself in position off the tee and made a few key open downs coming in. But I can't complain about eight under after two rounds.

“I'm putting well, holing out nicely, making those momentum putts around the turn, holing putts for par when you need them. I  just need to clean up a few tee shots  and I'll be good.”

He’s more than happy to be just a shot off the pace in his first start of the year and while he’s got no idea what it might take to win, he’d happily take another eight under for the weekend and see where it leaves him.

“It’s very pleasing, long way to go,” he said of his form so far. “But yes, it's encouraging signs after the first two rounds to see what I can do for the weekend. It's hard to know what it will take this week. I think the wind is meant to blow a bit over the weekend, so this course will get quite difficult. But I think if you manage to double your score any week, you'll be in a good position.”

Purcell was the only Irishman to make the three-under-par cut.

Mark Power shot a two-under 70 to miss out by one stroke with Dermot McElroy a shot further back after a 72.

Jonathan Caldwell struggled to an 80 to miss out on six over with Gary Hurley seven over after a 75.

Scores

135 - Haraldur Magnus 69 66, Rhys West 68 67, Sam Hutsby 69 66, Gerhard Pepler 68 67, Deon Germishuys 68 67, Alfie Plant 67 68, Ryan Van Velzen 68 67, Tapio Pulkkanen 66 69, Benjamin Hebert 69 66, James Allan 68 67

136 - Conor Purcell 67 69, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen 70 66, Louis Albertse 68 68

137 - Justin Walters 68 69, Hamish Brown 69 68, Martin Simonsen 72 65, Craig Howie 71 66, Bradley Bawden 66 71

138 - Philipp Katich 72 66, Nicolai Kristensen 71 67, James Mack 69 69, Jaco Van Zyl 70 68, Danie Van Niekerk 68 70, Martin Couvra 69 69

139 - Victor Pastor 74 65, Rupert Kaminski 72 67, Robin Roussel 70 69, Lars van Meijel 73 66, Ben Schmidt 70 69, Keegan Mclachlan 72 67, Euan Walker 70 69, Thomas Aiken 70 69, Shaun Norris 68 71, Robin Sciot-Siegrist 70 69, Lee Slattery 68 71, Hennie O'Kennedy 71 68, Keagan Thomas 72 67

140 - Jbe' Kruger 71 69, Ross Mcgowan 70 70, Malcolm Mitchell 73 67, Marc Hammer 72 68, Mikael Lindberg 70 70, Romain Wattel 67 73, Daniel Young 67 73, Benjamin Follett-Smith 69 71, Oliver Lindell 69 71, Michael Hollick 71 69, Callum Mowat 68 72

141 - JC Ritchie 73 68, Pierre Pineau 70 71, Jean Hugo 72 69, Jacques Blaauw 71 70, Maxence Giboudot 72 69, Yurav Premlall 72 69, Alejandro Canizares 73 68, Anton Karlsson 72 69, Joe Long 72 69, Tomas Gouveia 72 69, John Axelsen 71 70, Joel Moscatel 70 71, Rhys Enoch 71 70, Neil Schietekat 71 70, Steven Brown 69 72, Jack McDonald 68 73, Jovan Rebula 69 72, Stefan Wears-Taylor 67 74, Pietro Bovari 71 70, Albert Venter 68 73, Jake Roos 71 70, Toto Thimba Jnr 68 73

Missed the cut

142 - Christofer Blomstrand 71 71, Mark Power 72 70, Borja Virto 72 70, Nikhil Rama 72 70, Gregorio De Leo 72 70, Peter Karmis 70 72, Niklas Regner 72 70, George Mason 71 71, Christiaan Basson 72 70, Heinrich Bruiners 71 71, Jordan Gumberg 72 70, Tristen Strydom 67 75, JJ Senekal 71 71, Oliver Bekker 71 71, Chris Paisley 73 69, Alexander Levy 73 69, Martin Rohwer 68 74, Jamie Rutherford 71 71, Aron Zemmer 71 71, Luke Brown 69 73

143 - Jeppe Kristian Andersen 75 68, Daniel van Tonder 71 72, Tom Shadbolt 73 70, Keelan van Wyk 71 72, Jacques P de Villiers 76 67, Luca Filippi 73 70, Keenan Davidse 71 72, Oliver Farr 70 73, Dermot McElroy 71 72, Oihan Guillamoundeguy 71 72, Wynand Dingle 72 71, Anthony Michael 69 74

144 - Ronan Kleu 77 67, Michael Stewart 72 72, John Parry 74 70, Kyle Barker 73 71, Clement Berardo 73 71, Merrick Bremner 72 72, Ashley Chesters 71 73, George Bloor 72 72, Lyle Rowe 72 72, Dan Erickson 71 73, Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen 70 74, Hayden Hopewell 71 73

145 - Samuel Simpson 75 70, Martin Vorster 71 74, Tristin Galant 73 72, Mateusz Gradecki 73 72, Kyle De Beer 74 71, Gregory Bourdy 72 73, Richard Mcevoy 70 75, Jaco Ahlers 73 72, Angel Ayora 72 73, Jonathan Broomhead 71 74, Quim Vidal 70 75, Julien Sale 72 73, Robson Chinhoi 72 73, Erhard Lambrechts 75 70

146 - Connor Mckinney 76 70, Robin Williams 71 75, Oliver Hundeboll 72 74, Herman Loubser 74 72, Bryce Easton 73 73, Lucas Vacarisas 74 72, Franklin Manchest 74 72

147 - Dylan Mostert 70 77, Sean Bradley 75 72, Ethan Smith 78 69, David Langley 74 73, Jason Smith 76 71, Siyanda Mwandla 74 73

148 - Matthew Spacey 73 75, Dylan Naidoo 75 73, Ruan Korb 75 73, Rourke van der Spuy 74 74

149 - MJ Viljoen 71 78

150 - Gary Boyd 78 72, Jonathan Caldwell 70 80, Adam Breen 73 77

151 - Gary Hurley 76 75, Justin Harding 80 71

152 - CJ du Plessis 78 74

154 - Conner Mackenzie 77 77

156 - Jake Redman 76 80

157 - Joachim B. Hansen 76 81, Jacquin Hess 80 77