Having carded a course-record 64 to lead by lunchtime, Eamonn Darcy found himself a stroke behind Paul McGinley at the halfway stage of the Smurfit Irish Professional Championship at Baltray yesterday. It was a particularly fine effort from McGinley, who knew what he had to do among the late starters.
Playing perfect golf for the venue, the 33-year-old Dubliner birdied all of the five par fives for a second successive 67 and a 36-hole total of 134 - 12 under-par. And looking to the serious business of the weekend, he said: "If Eamonn continues to putt as well as he obviously did today, he's going to be very tough to beat."
Meanwhile, Scott Kirkpatrick, an assistant from the Blackwood club in Co Down, unwittingly lent a decidedly quirky element to the occasion. The former London Irish and Ulster senior rugby interprovincial flanker, had an 81 with a run of 16 holes without carding a par.
As a sample of his scoring, Kirkpatrick's card from the first hole, his 10th, read: bogey, eagle, birdie, double-bogey, bogey, birdie. Sadly, he failed to survive the halfway cut of 152.
Darcy, who has struggled with the blade in recent years, adopted a new grip and had only 26 putts. It's a split-handed grip with the left hand below the right and it allowed the twice former champion to beat the course record of 65, set by Jimmy Heggarty 15-years-ago.
"I enjoyed that," said the 48-year-old who is ranked among the world's finest ball-strikers for his age. "I can't remember when I last putted so well." His eight birdies were at the first, second, third, sixth, seventh, 10th, 13th, 15th and 18th. A lone bogey came at the short seventh and the round also included an eagle two at the 407-yard eighth, where he spun an 118-yard wedge approach back into the hole.
Stephen Hamill, joint leader overnight, went tumbling down the order with a dispiriting 76, but other local players remained very much in the hunt. John Kelly of The Ward had an eagle and seven birdies in a sparkling 68 while the defending champion, Neil Manchip, would be better placed but for two three-putts late in the round.
