Compiled by Philip Reid

Westwood glad to have made trip

LEE Westwood hadn't originally included the Irish Open on his schedule, but is glad he made the trip. When asked if he felt the comments of his Ryder Cup colleague Darren Clarke - who described the course as "ridiculously difficult" - were justified, Westwood replied, "I've just come from Sawgrass and this is a bit more playable than there."

Although he has comfortably survived into the weekend, with a second round 70 for 145, Westwood's eyes are focused on next week's BMW PGA championship at Wentworth.

"It's the fifth-biggest tournament of the year for me (after the majors), as far as I am concerned," he said, "and it is good to get some good competitive rounds in here, as you have to hit it well around this course and keep it in play."

Looking on the bright side

GIVEN the weather that has bedevilled golf tournaments in Ireland in recent years, when rain was very much a hazard not just for golfers but also for television cameramen, you could understand why umbrellas became an essential tool of the trade for those tasked with capturing the ball's flight.

Yesterday, though, we witnessed the flip side as a cameraman put his umbrella - brought here in the expectation of inclement weather - to good use down by the ninth green. There, a Sky TV cameraman had an assistant holding up an umbrella to shield his camera screen from the sun's glare.

Murphy putts things right

THE message is clear: never throw away a putter, no matter how disobedient it has been.

Gary Murphy put a long-abandoned putter back into his bag for yesterday's second round and proceeded to shoot a 70 - for 144 - that enables him to head into the weekend with some confidence.

Murphy has endured a tough time on tour so far this season, making only four of 11 cuts up to the Irish Open, and is 140th on the Order of Merit with €61,482.

A good weekend here, you feel, is overdue.

By the  numbers

205 - David Higgins's day started off brilliantly, the Kerryman holing out with a five-wood from 205 yards on the 10th, his first hole, for an eagle. It went downhill after that; he eventually signed for a 76 that left him on 156, 12 over, and failed to survive the cut. The good news? He got a bottle of champagne for his eagle.

17 - The Austrian Martin Wiegele produced an astonishing round of 67. His bid to survive the cut was in vain after his 84 on Thursday. Still, his effort yesterday, a 17-shot improvement, was commendable.

Disposable superstition

SOME golfers are of a superstitious disposition, and midway leader Michael Lorenzo-Vera most definitely falls into that category.

Once upon a time, he also insisted on wearing white underpants for the third round. "A horrible, quicksilver pair," he recalled, cringing at the memory. Now, instead, the Frenchman has switched to a more acceptable superstition as he hunts down a first tour win: he uses white tees with the Rolex logo.

How did the superstition arise?

"I don't know. Good drive . . . good drive . . . if I hit a bad drive, I throw away that tee and get a new white one," he said.

For his part, Pádraig Harrington - not usually the superstitious type, apart from also retying his shoe laces when he gets to the first tee - decided yesterday to use a coin his son Paddy had used in a magic trick as a ball marker. After taking 32 putts in his second round, Harrington hinted he might be looking for a new ball marker.