James Newton lays down marker as second 66 earns him one-shot lead in Sligo

England's James Newton hit the front in the Flogas Irish Amateur Open as the lead changed hands during round two at County Sligo.

Four behind at the start of play, Newton ended the day two shots clear of Galway's Ronan Mullarney after a second consecutive round of 66 left him 10 under at the halfway stage.

“I was just trying to keep it stress free,” said 24-year-old Newton from Macclesfield. “The holes where you can hit driver, I made the most of those.”

Newton eagled the 12th for the second day running and has picked up seven shots on the par fives in two rounds at Rosses Point.

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“I know that the scoring is really good,” Newton reflected. “Everyone is always going to be moving up. If you plateau, you’re going to be falling.”

Overnight leader Mullarney ceded control with a costly double-bogey three holes from the finish. Seeking to supplement his course record 62, he twice reached double figures under par with birdies at the 12th and 15th but came unstuck at the 16th when he missed the green to the right.

For the most part, the round had been a grind. Although Mullarney began with 11 straight pars, he did not make them in comfort.

“My pace was really good yesterday and it wasn’t today,” said Mullarney, describing his round two ventures on the greens. “I left myself between three and six feet numerous times today. You can’t stay holing them and I knew that.”

A three-putt bogey on 13 cost Mullarney his first bogey of the tournament. Another short putt failed to drop at 16 but he showed mettle to close his round with a birdie. To post 72 was far from fatal and he is Newton’s nearest challenger entering the weekend.

Germany's Marc Hammer is lying third on seven under. Hammer, playing alongside Mullarney, eagled the last from the fairway to shoot 64, the low round of the day.

A group of five players sit one shot further back, with Keith Egan (Carton House) and Robert Moran (Castle) among them. The top 50 and ties progress at the end of round three. Currently, the projected cut is one over par.

LEADERBOARD (Par 72)
132 J Newton (Eng) 66 66

134 R Mullarney (Galway) 62 72

135 M Hammer (Ger) 71 64

136 K Egan (Carton House) 70 66, R Moran (Castle) 68 68, C Strickland (Eng) 67 69, K Kouwenaar (Ned) 67 69, A Edwards-Hill (Eng) 67 69

137 J McMahon (Eng) 72 65, J Bolton (Eng) 67 70

138 J Wright (Sco) 69 69, E Walker (Sco) 66 72

139 A Hietala (Fin) 71 68, M Roberts (Wal) 71 68, E Murphy (Dundalk) 71 68, C Purcell (Portmarnock) 70 69, J Burnage (Eng) 69 70, G Cullen (The Links Portmarnock) 69 70, B Chamberlain (Wal) 69 70

140 C Butler (Kinsale) 75 65, J Wilson (Sco) 73 67, M Hirmer (Ger) 73 67, S Roger (Sco) 72 68, L Sanges (Wal) 72 68, R Brazill (Naas) 71 69, B Dietzel (Ger) 70 70, B Firth (Eng) 69 71, L Moolman (RSA) 69 71, K Cantley (Sco) 68 72, J Hull (Eng) 67 73

141 O Huggins (Eng) 71 70, H Byers (Eng) 71 70, M Boucher (Carton House) 71 70, M Honkala (Fin) 71 70, R Cannon (Balbriggan) 70 71, A Herrmann (Ger) 70 71, M Kennedy (Royal Dublin) 70 71, J Johnston (Sco) 69 72, R Muir (Sco) 66 75

142 R Foley (Swi) 74 68, D Langley (Eng) 74 68, W Porter (Sco) 73 69, T Vahlenkamp (Ger) 73 69, P McKeever (Castle) 73 69, R Williamson (Holywood) 71 71, A McCormack (Castletroy) 71 71, S MacPherson (Sco) 70 72, T McLarnon (Massereene) 67 75

143 J McDonnell (Forrest Little) 73 70, H Islam (Eng) 73 70, P Coughlan (Castleknock) 71 72, M Naysmith (Sco) 71 72, E McCormack (Galway) 71 72, O Brown (Wal) 70 73, H Foley (Royal Dublin) 70 73, G Burns (Sco) 70 73, J Sugrue (Mallow) 70 73, R McNelis (Fintona) 68 75

144 C Knipes (Eng) 74 70, S Doyle (Black Bush) 73 71, E McIntosh (Sco) 73 71, M Markovits (Ned) 73 71, C Woollam (RSA) 71 73, A Fahy (Dún Laoghaire) 71 73, J Cass (Eng) 71 73, G Collins (Rosslare) 71 73, M Lamb (Eng) 70 74, D Kitt (Athenry) 70 74

145 C Campbell (Warrenpoint) 77 68, J Walsh (Castle) 74 71, A Marshall (Lisburn) 74 71, S Flanagan (Co Sligo) 74 71, C Thornton (Eng) 73 72, M Scowsill (Eng) 73 72, S Walsh (Portmarnock) 73 72, M McClean (Malone GC) 73 72, J Cooper (Eng) 73 72, C Woodroofe (Dún Laoghaire) 72 73, P Poate (USA) 71 74, L O'Neill (Connemara) 67 78

146 J Biggs (Eng) 77 69, J Davies (Wal) 77 69, W Dodds (Eng) 76 70, M Essam (Eng) 74 72, G Dunne (Co Louth) 73 73, J Rowe (Tandragee) 73 73, M Deasy (Lee Valley) 72 74, D Antonisse (Ned) 69 77

147 F van Dijk (Ned) 76 71, D Reddan Jnr (Nenagh) 76 71, J Byrne (Baltinglass) 74 73, D Howie (Sco) 72 75, H Goddard (Eng) 72 75

148 M Harris (Wal) 78 70, R Lyons (Olympic) 77 71, P O'Keeffe (Douglas) 76 72, M McKinstry (Cairndhu) 75 73, E Smith (The Links Portmarnock) 74 74, M Power (Kilkenny) 73 75, M Nolan (Dún Laoghaire) 71 77, M Farr (Eng) 69 79

149 C Salter (Eng) 78 71, J Hawksby (Eng) 74 75, L Irvine (Sco) 72 77, L Owen (Eng) 72 77, J Whelan (Newlands) 71 78

150 C Wilson (Sco) 76 74, F O'Sullivan (Tralee) 75 75, J McCarthy (Grange) 75 75, L Hinton (Eng) 74 76, I Lynch (Rosslare) 73 77

151 M Norton (Belvoir Park) 76 75, R Latimer (Knock) 75 76, J Hapgood (Wal) 75 76

152 J Temple (Portmarnock) 77 75, M Herrmann (Ger) 75 77, P Connolly (Killeen Castle) 74 78

153 J Stokes (Eng) 78 75, Z Karkaletsos (Eng) 78 75, C Morris (Wal) 77 76, T Tetak (Slo) 77 76, C Wilson (Canada) 77 76, C Barrow (Eng) 75 78, R O'Connor (Co Sligo) 74 79, S Turner (Eng) 73 80, S Desmond (Monkstown) 71 82

155 T O'Connor (Athlone) 79 76

157 J Fox (Portmarnock) 80 77, K Murphy (Dún Laoghaire) 79 78

159 W Small (Tandragee) 82 77, D West (Eng) 77 82, C Otten (Ger) 77 82

RTD: M McCormack (The Island), R Dutton (Tandragee), R Black (Hilton Templepatrick)