Michael Hoey leads the Irish charge at the Vic Open in Australia after a second round of 68 moved him into a tie for ninth at 10 under par while Paul Dunne sits just one shot further back at nine under.
Both players trail joint-leaders Jason Scrivener and Nick Flanagan of Australia who are both 14 under par heading into the weekend.
Hoey – who has made just two appearances on the European Tour this season, missing the cut in both – followed his opening 66 on the Beach Course in Victoria with a 68 on the Creek Course which included an eagle and six birdies.
His round was bookended by consecutive bogeys at the first and second and the 17th and 18th but the middle part was when the five-time European Tour winner really got going with back-to-back birdies at the fifth and sixth, an eagle at the seventh and then four more birdies at the eighth, ninth, 10th and 12th to play those eight holes in eight under par.
For Dunne it was a very pleasing round of 66 – also at the Creek Course – which was spoiled only slightly by a bogey at the 18th having already picked up birdies at the fifth, 10th, 13th, 14th and 17th as well as an eagle at the seventh.
Both players head in to the weekend with possible victory in their sights while Dubliner Gavin Moynihan managed to scrape through to the weekend right on the cut mark of five under par after failing to capitalise on a good opening round. Three birdies and three bogeys saw him around in level par 72 on the Beach Course to make just his second cut of the season on the main tour.
For Portmarnock amateur Conor Purcell it was a disappointing second day as he fired a round of 76 to finish at four over and well outside the cut mark.
At the top of the leaderboard, Scrivener carded a 66 over the Beach course at 13th Beach Golf Club to move to 14 under par alongside first-round leader Flanagan, who added a 68 on the same course to his opening 62.
Compatriot Wade Ormsby is a shot off the lead with fellow Australians Matt Jager and Brad Kennedy another stroke back. Scotland’s David Law, who has yet to drop a shot, is three shots off the lead alongside Clement Sordet and Nick Cullen.
A day after equalling the world record with nine straight birdies, Australia’s James Nitties could only manage one birdie, 16 pars and a double bogey on the 18th to fall eight shots off the lead following a 74.
Scrivener, who like Law is bogey-free for the first 36 holes, said: “Any time your game’s in a good place and you’re constantly making cuts and putting yourself in contention, it’s good for confidence.
“I just feel like over the last six months I’ve made some big improvements in my game and steadily progressing the last couple of years.
“I feel like it’s in a good position and I just want to give myself more chances to win tournaments. I definitely feel like I’ve been knocking on the door and I think the more chances I give myself, the better.”
Flanagan looked like enjoying the outright lead for a second day running after posting five birdies in the first 15 holes before a bogey on the 16th, but was still happy with his day’s work.
“I’m probably happier with today’s round considering it was backing up that 62,” he said. “To be up there at the top of the leaderboard’s obviously great and we’ll go out on the weekend and just kind of keep doing what I’m doing.”
The event is the first co-sanctioned tournament of its type between the European Tour and the LPGA Tour with the men and women both playing the same courses at the same time and for the same prize money.
In the women’s event Kim Kaufman of the USA leads the way at 13 under with Leona Maguire the sole Irish survivor for the weekend after her second round of one under par 72 moved her to level par overall and into a tie for 65th.
There was disappointment for Stephanie Meadow who yesterday opening with a three under par 70 but on Friday slumped to a disastrous 75 which saw her miss the cut at two over par.
Collated second round scores & totals in the European Tour Vic Open, 13th Beach GC, Geelong, Victoria, Australia (British unless stated, par 72):
130 Jason Scrivener (Aus) 64 66, Nick Flanagan (Aus) 62 68
131 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 65 66
132 Brad Kennedy (Aus) 67 65, Matt Jager (Aus) 66 66
133 Nick Cullen (Aus) 66 67, David Law 67 66, Clement Sordet (Fra) 69 64
134 Lucas Herbert (Aus) 65 69, Anton Karlsson (Swe) 65 69, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 66 68, Michael Hendry (Nzl) 68 66, Grant Forrest 65 69, Michael Hoey (NIrl) 66 68, Matthew Griffin (Aus) 65 69
135 David Drysdale 66 69, Ashley Chesters 68 67, James Anstiss (Aus) 64 71, Paul Dunne (Irl) 69 66, Andrew Evans (Aus) 68 67, David Micheluzzi (a) (Aus) 67 68
136 Scott Hend (Aus) 69 67, Peter Cooke (Aus) 65 71, Daniel Gavins 68 68, Hugo Leon (USA) 64 72, Michael Sim (Aus) 66 70, Espen Kofstad (Nor) 71 65, Aaron Pike (Aus) 66 70, Jordan Mullaney (Aus) 67 69, Louis Ger Jager (Rsa) 67 69, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 66, Aaron Rai 67 69
137 Jason Norris (Aus) 66 71, Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 66 71, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 66 71, Andre Lautee (a) (Aus) 65 72, Stuart Manley 66 71, Ashley Hall (Aus) 71 66, Blake Windred (a) (Aus) 70 67, Darren Beck (Aus) 67 70, Callum Shinkwin 64 73, Robert Macintyre 67 70, James Morrison 68 69
138 Aaron Townsend (Aus) 69 69, Kurt Kitayama (USA) 64 74, Zach Murray (Aus) 68 70, Steven Jeffress (Aus) 69 69, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 71, Kim Koivu (Fin) 66 72, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 67 71, Connor Syme 71 67, Taylor MacDonald (Aus) 68 70, David Bransdon (Aus) 69 69, Scott Vincent (Zim) 68 70, Justin Harding (Rsa) 67 71, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 66 72, James Nitties (Aus) 64 74, Peter Lonard (Aus) 66 72, Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 68 70, Daniel Nisbet (Aus) 68 70, Matthew Stieger (Aus) 71 67, Richard Green (Aus) 72 66, Austin Connelly (Can) 70 68, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 68 70, Sam Brazel (Aus) 69 69
139 Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 68, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 70, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 69 70, Dylan Perry (Aus) 68 71, Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 67 72, Michael Long (Nzl) 66 73, Max McCardle (Aus) 68 71, Jarryd Felton (Aus) 71 68, Adam Burdett (Aus) 72 67, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 69, Sihwan Kim (Kor) 71 68, Dale Williamson (Aus) 68 71, Andrew Martin (Aus) 68 71, Kristoffer Reitan (Nor) 72 67, Matthew Nixon 71 68
The following players did not make the cut:
140 Ben Eccles (Aus) 71 69, Peter Fowler (Aus) 69 71, Adam Bland (Aus) 66 74, Jordan Zunic (Aus) 72 68, Filippo Bergamaschi (Ita) 72 68, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 67 73
141 Ben Evans 69 72, Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 71 70, Daniel Gale (Aus) 70 71, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 69 72, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez (Spa) 71 70, Harrison Endycott (Aus) 69 72, Per Langfors (Swe) 69 72, Max Orrin 70 71, Ryan Chisnall (Nzl) 70 71, Matthew Millar (Aus) 69 72, Oliver Wilson 67 74, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 69 72, Peter Senior (Aus) 71 70, Nick O’Hern (Aus) 73 68, Braden Becker (Aus) 73 68, Michael Wright (Aus) 72 69, Deyen Lawson (Aus) 71 70, Jack Wilson (Aus) 72 69, Christopher Wood (Aus) 71 70, Dimitrios Papadatos (Aus) 67 74, Tim Stewart (Aus) 72 69
142 Austen Truslow (USA) 69 73, Jake McLeod (Aus) 69 73, Christopher Fan (a) (Aus) 70 72, Ryan Lynch (Aus) 68 74, David Borda (Spa) 69 73, Cameron John (Aus) 72 70, Scott Gregory 68 74, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 73 69, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 70 72, Nathan Barbieri (a) (Aus) 68 74, Jake Higginbottom (Aus) 72 70, Callan O’Reilly (Aus) 71 71, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 70
143 Andrew Johnston 66 77, Josh Younger (Aus) 71 72, Brady Watt (Aus) 73 70, Simon Hawkes (Aus) 71 72, Jack Thompson (a) (Aus) 70 73, Travis Smyth (Aus) 73 70, Max Schmitt (Ger) 73 70, Richard McEvoy 72 71, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 72, Alexander Knappe (Ger) 71 72
144 Daniel Fox (Aus) 71 73, Kade McBride (Aus) 72 72, Ben Campbell (Nzl) 73 71, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 71 73
145 Blake Proverbs (Aus) 70 75, Guido Migliozzi (Spa) 69 76, Mark Brown (Nzl) 73 72, James Marchesani (USA) 73 72, Pedro Figueiredo (Por) 69 76
146 Ryo Ishikawa (Jpn) 74 72, David Smail (Nzl) 69 77, Tom Murray 71 75, Anthony Quayle (Aus) 72 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 75, Peter O’Malley (Aus) 74 72
147 Liam Johnston 72 75, Hyo-won Park (Kor) 69 78, Robert Allenby (Aus) 71 76, Andrew Kelly (Aus) 71 76, Jin-ho Choi (Kor) 70 77
148 Conor Purcell (a) (Irl) 72 76, Damien Jordan (Aus) 74 74
149 Cory Crawford (Aus) 71 78, Kristian Krogh Johannessen (Nor) 74 75
151 Jasper Stubbs (a) (Aus) 76 75
152 Harry Bateman (Nzl) 70 82
Collated second round scores & totals in the LPGA Tour ISPS Handa Vic Open, 13th Beach Golf Links, Victoria, Australia (British unless stated, par 72):
132 Kim Kaufman (USA) 66 66
134 Haru Nomura (Jpn) 67 67
135 Su Oh (Aus) 67 68
136 Charlotte Thomas 68 68
138 Karrie Webb (Aus) 73 65, Alena Sharp (Can) 69 69, Olivia Cowan (Ger) 68 70, Marissa Steen (USA) 68 70
139 Felicity Johnson 65 74, Alison Lee (USA) 68 71, Kristen Gillman (USA) 72 67
140 (a) Yae Eun Hong (Kor) 68 72, Marianne Skarpnord (Nor) 71 69, Pei-ying Tsai (Tai) 69 71, Celine Boutier (Fra) 69 71, Haeji Kang (Kor) 71 69, Kendall Dye (USA) 72 68, Holly Clyburn 70 70, Lindsey Weaver (USA) 70 70, Katherine Kirk (Aus) 72 68, Mariajo Uribe (Col) 69 71, Daniela Holmqvist (Swe) 70 70, Anne Catherine Tanguay (Can) 66 74
141 Jodi Ewart Shadoff 71 70, Georgia Hall 70 71, Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 72 69, Benyapa Niphatsophon (Tha) 71 70, (a) Stephanie Kiriacou (Aus) 69 72, Lauren Stephenson (USA) 69 72, Prima Thammaraks (Tha) 69 72, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 70 71, Linnea Strom (Swe) 73 68
142 Teresa Lux (Tai) 69 73, Morgan Pressel (USA) 70 72, Christine Wolf (USA) 74 68, Noemi Jimenez Martin (Spa) 70 72, Jaclyn Lee (Can) 73 69, Karis Davidson (Aus) 68 74, Bronte Law 71 71, Daniela Darquea (Ecu) 72 70
143 Catriona Matthew 72 71, Nuria Iturrios (Spa) 71 72, Melissa Reid 70 73, Pei-yun Chien (Chn) 69 74, Pannarat Thanapolboonyaras (Tha) 72 71, Silvia Banon (Spa) 73 70, Brianna Dom (USA) 71 72, Brittany Marchand (Can) 73 70, Thidapa Suwannapura (Tha) 74 69, Isabell Gabsa (Ger) 70 73, Ayako Uehara (Jpn) 71 72, Stephanie Nam (Aus) 72 71
144 Mirim Lee (Kor) 70 74, Lee-Anne Pace (Rsa) 72 72, Brittany Lang (USA) 71 73, Ursula Wikstrom (Fin) 75 69, Xi Yu Lin (Chn) 70 74, Maria Torres (Pue) 70 74, Caroline Hedwall (Swe) 71 73, Suzuka Yamaguchi (Jpn) 69 75, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 72 72, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 71 73, Jane Park (USA) 68 76, Azahara Munoz (Spa) 72 72, Sarah Schmelzel (USA) 71 73
145 Kylie Henry 73 72, Munchin Keh (Nzl) 76 69, Minjee Lee (Aus) 72 73, Cheyenne Woods (USA) 71 74, Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong (Tha) 73 72, Manon Ger Roey (Bel) 67 78, Christina Kim (USA) 74 71, Luna Sobron (Spa) 71 74, Yu Liu (Chn) 74 71, Leona Maguire 73 72 (Irl), Isabelle Boineau (Fra) 74 71
The following players did not make the cut:
146 Emma Talley (USA) 74 72, Paula Creamer (USA) 73 73, Robyn Choi (Aus) 75 71, Vani Kapoor (Ind) 71 75, Jenny Haglund (Swe) 72 74, Lindy Duncan (USA) 71 75, Nicole Broch Larsen (Den) 74 72, Tiffany Joh (USA) 72 74, Dottie Ardina (Phl) 71 75, Cheyenne Knight (USA) 70 76, Anne Van Dam (Ned) 76 70
147 Stephanie Meadow (NIrl) 70 77, Sakura Yokomine (Jpn) 74 73, Hannah Burke 77 70, Agathe Sauzon (Fra) 73 74, Katelyn Must (Aus) 75 72, Rebecca Artis (Aus) 72 75, Charlotte Thompson 69 78, Valdis Thora Jonsdottir (Isr) 72 75, Kris Tamulis (USA) 73 74, Chloe Leurquin (Bel) 71 76, (a) Min A Yoon (Kor) 70 77, Hannah Green (Aus) 69 78, Laura Davies 73 74, Simin Feng (Chn) 74 73, Pavarisa Yoktuan (Tha) 74 73
148 Dana Finkelstein (USA) 74 74, Madelene Sagstrom (Swe) 71 77, Ally McDonald (USA) 77 71, Jaye Marie Green (USA) 76 72, Klara Spilkova (Cze) 75 73, Mariah Stackhouse (USA) 74 74
149 Michele Thomson 75 74, Lydia Hall 75 74, Becky Morgan 73 76, Stacy Lee Bregman (Rsa) 74 75, Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 74 75, Tamie Durdin (Aus) 72 77, Astrid Ger Pradenne (Fra) 75 74, Amy Boulden 78 71, Laura Gonzales Escallon (Bel) 76 73, Tonje Daffinrud (Nor) 73 76, Beatriz Recari (Spa) 73 76, Amy Walsh (Aus) 80 69, Becca Huffer (USA) 72 77, Aditi Ashok (Ind) 73 76, Cathryn Bristow (Nzl) 71 78
150 Beth Allen (USA) 73 77, Breanna Gill (Aus) 76 74, Marta Sanz Barrio (Spa) 73 77, Karoline Lund (Nor) 70 80, Diksha Dagar (Ind) 78 72, Tiffany Chan (Hkg) 73 77
151 Celine Herbin (Fra) 73 78, Grace Kim (Aus) 70 81, Camilla Lennarth (Swe) 77 74, Elizabeth Szokol (USA) 72 79, Leticia Ras-Anderica (Ger) 75 76, Grace Lennon (Aus) 76 75, Lily Muni He (Chn) 70 81, Mina Harigae (USA) 71 80
152 Meghan MacLaren 72 80, Manon Molle (Fra) 74 78, Noora Komulainen (Fin) 73 79, Jackie Stoelting (USA) 72 80, Sarah Schober (Aut) 72 80, Joanna Klatten (Fra) 74 78, Vicky Uwland (Aus) 75 77
153 Youngin Chun (USA) 77 76, Amelia Lewis (USA) 77 76, Ingrid Gutierrez Nunez (Mex) 73 80
154 Charley Hull 73 81, Ruixin Liu (Chn) 74 80, Sheridan Gorton (Aus) 77 77, (a) Stephanie Bunque (Aus) 72 82
155 Camille Chevalier (Fra) 78 77, Sarah-Jane Smith (Aus) 76 79, (a) Maddison Hinson-Tolchard (Aus) 73 82, Whitney Hillier (Aus) 75 80
156 Hanee Song (Nzl) 77 79
