DAAN HUIZING LEADS BY THREE IN NORTHERN IRELAND CHALLENGE
REPORT FROM EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS
Daan
Huizing mastered the blustery, swirling winds that whipped around the
Galgorm Castle Golf Club on Friday morning to establish a three shot
lead at the halfway stage of the Northern Ireland Open Challenge
presented by Clannah and
XJET.
The
young Dutchman, who reached Number Two on the Amateur World Rankings
before turning professional, was in brilliant form as he posted a second
round of five under 66 to move to 11 under for the week and into a
three stroke lead over
Sweden’s Jens Dantorp and Englishman Ross McGowan.
Despite
the testing conditions, Huizing dropped just one shot on the first hole
before producing a classy display of ball-striking and control to
finish with three birdies in his last four holes to move clear of the
field.
“The
conditions were quite tough but I actually enjoy playing with a breeze
like that because it helps me to focus and allows you to shape the ball
and try to use the wind to your advantage in some ways,” said Huizing.
“I
am swinging the club well and playing with confidence at the moment so
hopefully I can keep that going over the weekend and try to get my first
win on the Challenge Tour.”
Dantorp
and McGowan both carded second round of two under 69 to share second
place on eight under, with four players – Marcus Armitage, Andrew
McArthur, Bernd Ritthammer and James Ruth – a further shot back.
The home challenge over the weekend
will be led by young amateur Dermot McElroy and his professional
countrymen Jonathan Caldwell and Mick McGeady, who all reached the
halfway stage on five under.
McElroy played a lot of amateur golf
with Huizing and is not surprised to see the 22 year old Dutchman flying
high at the top of the leaderboard.
“The last two events I played with
Daan he won them so I am not surprised to see his name up there," said
McElroy.
He won the Lytham Trophy and the St Andrews Links Trophy by
miles and is just a quality player,” said McElroy after his second
round 70.
“I played okay today – I hit the ball
off the tee a lot better but I haven’t played as well as I usually can
around here. Maybe I am just a little burnt out as I have played a lot
of golf this summer, but hopefully I can make a move over
the weekend.”
Caldwell and McGeady carded respective
second round scores of 69 and 72 and will be looking to move into
contention with a strong third round.
One man who won’t be making a move
over the weekend is Michael Hoey. The five-time European Tour winner has
been a fine tournament ambassador this week but after calling a two
shot penalty on himself midway through his second round, the
34 year old could not get back inside the cut line as he ended the day
with a five over 76 for four over par total.
Playing the 11th hole at Galgorm, Hoey found his ball in thick rough. “The ball moved a little bit in this thick clump of rough,” he explained.
“I hadn’t grounded my club so I didn’t
think it was a penalty but then I spoke to my partners and they were
saying even if you didn’t ground the club it might still be a penalty. I
wasn’t too comfortable with that so I spoke to one of the
referees a few holes later and he basically said it was my call and I
was 70 per cent sure that I had to call the penalty on myself.
"It’s a
disappointing way to end really but I gave it everything I could today
and just couldn’t do enough to make the cut.”
SECOND-ROUND TOTALS
Par 142 (2x71)
131 D Huizing (Ned) 65 66
134 J Dantorp (Swe) 65 69; R McGowan (Eng) 65 69
135 M Armitage (Eng) 70 65; B Ritthammer (Ger) 64 71; A McArthur (Sco) 65 70; J Ruth (Eng) 64 71
136 M Crespi (Ita) 67 69; D Im
(USA) 67 69; G Houston (Wal) 67 69; B Hebert (Fra) 67 69; O Wilson
(Eng) 66 70; D Stewart (Sco) 70 66
137 T Pilkadaris (Aus) 66 71; J
Carlsson (Swe) 68 69; M McGeady (Irl) 65 72; N O'Briain (Irl) 67 70; J
Caldwell (Nir) 68 69; D McElroy (am) (Nir) 67 70
138 J Mikkelsen (Nor) 69 69; J
Heath (Eng) 67 71; J Guerrier (Fra) 68 70; D Perrier (Fra) 68 70; H
Porteous (RSA) 68 70; C Russo (Fra) 67 71
139 T Hatton (Eng) 67 72; B An
(Kor) 68 71; P Widegren (Swe) 67 72; D Vancsik (Arg) 69 70; N Lemke
(Swe) 70 69; H Joannes (Bel) 71 68; M Glauert (Ger) 70 69; N Dougherty
(Eng) 66 73; G Murray (Sco) 67 72; A Johnston (Eng) 66 73;
B Parker (Eng) 68 71
140 N Kearney (Irl) 69 71; R Kakko
(Fin) 70 70; G Shaw (Nir) 68 72; R McGee (Irl) 70 70; V Riu (Fra) 70
70; J Lima (Por) 70 70; L Goddard (Eng) 69 71; M Ford (Eng) 71 69; S
Kim (SKor) 69 71; F Calmels (Fra) 69 71; R Whitson (am)
(Nir) 71 69
141 A Bernadet (Fra) 71 70; J
Barnes (Eng) 68 73; D Griffiths (Eng) 68 73; G Stal (Fra) 68 73; J
Senior (Eng) 68 73; J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 71; R Steiner (Aut) 71 70; P
Archer (Eng) 69 72; P Dwyer (Eng) 70 71; E Dubois (Fra) 72 69;
T Nørret (Den) 66 75; S Walker (Eng) 71 70; M Murphy (Irl) 72 69; S
Tiley (Eng) 70 71; J McLeary (Sco) 66 75; N Ravano (Ita) 71 70
MISSED THE CUT
MISSED THE CUT
142 D Dixon (Eng) 70 72; H Bateman
(Nzl) 71 71; A Dunbar (Nir) 68 74; L Bjerregaard (Den) 69 73; K
Borsheim (Nor) 73 69; C Moriarty (Irl) 69 73; T Remkes (Ned) 72 70; J
Jeong (Kor) 69 73; T Sluiter (Ned) 72 70; P O'Keeffe (Irl) 74
68; N Elvira (Esp) 74 68; L Richard (Bel) 72 70
143 B Paolini (USA) 71 72; K Ferrie
(Eng) 70 73; O Farr (Wal) 71 72; P Maddy (Eng) 72 71; C Hanson (Eng) 74
69; W Besseling (Ned) 68 75; J Glennemo (Swe) 70 73; R Kellett (Sco)
66 77; J Abbott (Eng) 76 67; T Murray (Eng) 73 70; P Figueiredo
(Por) 72 71
144 D Geminiani (Ita) 74 70; J
Moul (Eng) 74 70; J Lando Casanova (Fra) 74 70; T Haylock (Eng) 74
70; R Dinwiddie (Eng) 72 72; P Edberg (Swe) 73 71; A Gee (Eng) 75 69; J
Doherty (Sco) 68 76
145 L Corfield (Eng) 74 71; N Quintarelli (Ita) 75 70; R Russell (Sco) 68 77; T Fournier (Fra) 72 7
146 P Cutler (Nir) 74 72; C
Brazillier (Fra) 67 79; Å Nilsson (Swe) 69 77; R Kilpatrick (Nir) 74
72; A Domingo (Esp) 72 74; M Hoey (Nir) 70 76; L Saltman (Sco) 73 73; F
McGuirk (Eng) 68 78; D Palm (Swe) 72 74
147 B McCarroll (Irl) 75 72; M
Haines (Eng) 74 73; S Choi (Kor) 80 67; C Aguilar (Esp) 72 75; H
Santos (Por) 77 70; J Elson (Eng) 74 73; O Whiteley (Eng) 73 74; D
Mooney (Nir) 71 76; S Franklin (Irl) 76 71; A Velasco (Esp) 72 75;
J Gibb (Eng) 73 74;
148 S Piaget (Mon) 77 71; D
Wuensche (Ger) 73 75; C Devlin (Nir) 71 77; J Frazer (Wal) 75 73; J
Fahrbring (Swe) 74 74; J Maurer (Aut) 72 76; D Kemmer (USA) 74 74
149 W Booth (Sco) 72 77; D
Coupland (Eng) 74 75; M Sell (Eng) 74 75; E Saltman (Sco) 75 74; S
Forgan (Eng) 73 76; S Hutsby (Eng) 72 77; S Campbell (Eng) 73 76
150 J Howarth (Eng) 74 76; F Bergamaschi (Ita) 74 76; D Rawluk (Irl) 74 76; R Weldon (Irl) 72 78
151 S Manley (Wal) 73 78; J Mommo (Fin) 73 78; B Chapellan (Fra) 77 74
152
C Molloy (Irl) 73 79; P Oriol (Esp) 76 76; C Ford (Eng) 72 80; J Timmis
(Eng) 77 75; F Praegant Aut) 73 79; T Pulkkanen (Fin) 72 80; A Rota
(Ita) 76 76; F De Vries (Ned) 71 81;
153 S Ward (Nir) 79 74; N Turner (Irl) 75 78; L Reilly (Nir) 74 79;
157 D Leathem (Nir) 81 76
158 A Perrino (Ita) 78 80
160 S O'Hara (Sco) 78 82
161 C Carroll (am) (Nir) 77 84
172 S Wilson (Nir) 86 86
** R Saxton (Ned) 76 retired
Labels: CHALLENGE TOUR
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