It may be Wimbledon fortnight and we may have an Edberg leading the way at the midpoint of the Smurfit Kappa European Open, but if Pelle is to deliver the winning ground stroke come Sunday he will need to overcome some stiff opposition.
The little-known Pelle Edberg has been to Qualifying School more times than he cares to remember since turning professional in 1997 but this season he has shown promise. The 28-year-old, whose bandanna-wearing ways stem from time spent on the slopes, has enjoyed four top-20 finishes on the European Tour this year, including tied 19th in France last week.
Edberg fired a five-under 65 to lead the way on eight-under 132 but he has the might of Colin Montgomerie and fellow Swede Niclas Fasth, who was fourth at the US Open, breathing down his neck and just one shot behind.
"It was two pretty solid rounds, conditions were hard but fortunately they shortened the course otherwise it would have been very tough," said Edberg, no relation to tennis star Stefan Edberg although his father is also called Stefan.
"I don't know where it has come from," he added referring to his upturn in form. "Fortunately, I won a couple of good cheques which gave me a good re-rank. And when you're making money you feel more comfortable out here (on tour). It's going to be a tough weekend, for sure, with these guys chasing me but I feel confident and have a fair chance."
Montgomerie said after his low round of the day 64 that he felt somewhere close to those halcyon days when he won seven European Tour Order of Merit titles in-a-row in during the 1990s and picked off titles in Europe for fun.
"It's very satisfying for me to be able to reproduce the kind of golf I know I can play," enthused the 44-year-old who has reverted back to the belly putter. "The last time I played this well must have been in 1999 when I won six times out here."
"Maybe I didn't appreciate it enough when I was winning regularly . . . but today it felt good, I was able to visualise and execute the shots the way I wanted to," added the Scot. "I've won the Irish Open three times but never this one. It would be nice if I could finally win the European Open."
In Fasth's case he added a 68 to his opening 65 to be at the business end of proceedings once more, despite coming down with a heavy cold this week. The 35-year-old won the BMW Championship a fortnight ago, took a week off and has hit the ground running once more here in Kildare.
Padraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell are the two highest ranked Irishmen after they both arrived at the halfway stage on one-under. McDowell struggled with his driver all day but the damage limitation exercise allowed him to get round in level par 70. In Harrington's case a 68 moved the Dubliner to one-under before he revealed the extent of a knee injury.
"I really didn't think I was going to be able to play yesterday," revealed the world number 10 who had to have his knee strapped-up for the first round. "I didn't have it on today and all was fine until my second last hole when I just twisted it on some soft ground."
Harrington also had issues with his driver this week and is on his third variation. "The one I switched to yesterday, the grip was a bit weak and I spun it up in the air too much. Today I went to the driver I've been getting ready for the Open, not the one with the chip in the shaft, the original driver I was using this week.
"I went back to the short shafted driver, I hit it lower and with less spin. It's the driver I'll be using for the next two weeks."
David Higgins completed the trio of Irishmen to have made the cut from the 10 who started out. The Kerryman played flawless golf to card a 68, which was enough to see him through to the weekend on the cut mark of one-over 141.
US Open champion Angel Cabrera went round in one-under to get back on level terms for the tournament. The burly Argentine is hardly on top form but with the ability to shoot low he remains a threat over the weekend.
Paul McGinley was Cabrera's playing partner and the Dubliner was thoroughly frustrated with today's effort as he signed for another 71 to agonisingly miss the cut by one shot. He was joined on 142 by Peter Lawrie, who rallied with a second round 68 which wasn't quite enough.
McGinley almost had a repeat performance of last year when he made his way to the airport thinking he had missed the cut. That was before his wife Alison told him to hang on as scores were soaring. Back then the luggage was taken off the Aer Lingus flight before he went on to shoot 67, 69 over the weekend and finish fourth. Unfortunately there was no fairytale this time around and his early transfer to the airport for a 6pm flight proved shrewd.
And what a difference a day makes, well for Gary Murphy anyway. Yesterday the Kilkenny pro rattled off four birdies on the trot to move within one shot of the lead. Although he dropped shots coming home he still finished the opening day as leading Irishman after shooting 68. Today, however, he shot 75 for a three-over 143 aggregate to miss the cut by two shots.
Murphy was joined on three-over by Damien McGrane, whose 72 disappointingly moved the Meath man to the wrong side of the cut.
There was disappointment too for Philip Walton who slipped away badly with a second round 77 to finish seven-over, His playing partner Simon Thornton also missed the cut after a 73 left him nine-over. Michael Hoey never got to grips with the Smurfit Course and ended his tournament with a 74 for a 10-over 150 aggregate.
European Tour officials expect to return the 18th back to the original par five as opposed to the temporary par three in operation for the first two days. The change was necessitated after the landing area became saturated after such heavy rain. An official decision on this will not be taken until tomorrow morning.
