Paul Dunne has missed the cut at the Alfred Dunhill Championship after he shot a scrappy second round 75 at Leopard Creek.
The Greystones golfer began the day at one over par after an opening round of 73, but failed move his way up the leaderboard on Friday, eventually finishing three shots shy of the cut mark.
Knowing he needed to pick up some momentum in order for his full European Tour debut to last into the weekend, Dunne got off to a poor start with a bogey on the 10th hole - his first - before taking that shot back with a birdie on 13.
However a bogey on 17 was followed by a disastrous double bogey on 18 and he reached the turn three over par.
The 23-year-old was solid if unspectacular on his back nine, parring six holes and picking up a shot on the sixth, but any hopes of a miraculous late charge to drag himself past the cut mark were dashed by a bogey on eight.
Meanwhile, it was a disastrous day for Waterford's Kevin Phelan who followed up a solid opening round with a 77 to slide back to three over par and miss the cut.
It was even worse for Castleknock’s Peter Lawrie who, after an opening round of 79, withdrew from the tournament.
Lawrie disqualified himself from last week’s Q-School at PGA Catalunya, meaning he missed out on securing his full card for this season.
And, after receiving an invite to compete this week, failed to begin his second round.
Charl Schwartzel continued his love affair with the Leopard Creek as he surged into to a five-shot lead.
It has long been among Schwartzel’s favourites and the former U.S. Masters champion dominated on Friday as he completed his first round with a 66 and then shot 67 in the second for an 11-under-par total at the halfway mark.
The 31-year-old South African, who has won three times at Leopard Creek, was out at 6.30am to complete his first round with a birdie on the 18th after a thunderstorm suspended play late on Thursday.
Then, after a swift turnaround, he birdied six holes for a second round 67.
“I kept giving myself chances all day. I had good control of the irons and if I can fire up the putter, I can shoot even lower,” Schwartzel said.
The conditions on Friday were windy and in contrast to the sweltering heat of the previous day when the golfers had to contend with temperatures close to 40 degrees.
Spain’s Pablo Martin, who has won twice at Leopard Creek, is joint second on six-under with Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, Dutchman Joost Luiten and South Africa’s Richard Sterne.
Englishman Eddie Pepperell shot the best round of the day with his 65 taking him to five-under.
Overnight leader Christiaan Basson, who hit an opening round 64, slumped to a 76 on the second day and is now four under-par.
Louis Oosthuizen, the highest-ranked player in the field at 15, missed the cut after shooting 76 in the second round.
