The mild colonial boy stays fearless

REFORMED rebel Wayne Riley remained fearless on treacherous greens here at the Aroeira Club yesterday to take a three stroke lead at the halfway stage of the £325,000 Portuguese Open. The Australian, who has been transformed into something of a mild colonial boy, shot a 67 for a 10 under par aggregate of 132 - remarkable scoring in the circumstances.

Even more interesting is that, because of moderate form, he contemplated withdrawing from the event and confirmed his entry only last Saturday. Either way, he seemed decidedly comfortable with his advantage over the Argentinian Jose Coceres on seven under, with first round leader Klas Eriksson a stroke further 18 players from the 180 already in action on the European Tour this season have avoided missing a cut. And when the qualifying mark for this event was made on 144 - two over par - Padraig Harrington was among that 10 per cent. So was Paul McGinley, who battled courageously to get through on the limit after a second round of 69.

Francis Howley also survived impressively. But a missed six foot birdie putt on the 18th deprived Jimmy Heggarty of a weekend place. Eamonn Darcy also departed the scene, and a dismal round of 77 has convinced him to ditch the broomhandle putter after only two outings. Meanwhile, Christy O'Connor Jnr withdrew after the first round with a recurrence of tennis elbow, while Youghal born Brian O'Donovan had a no return.

Of the Irish performances, Harrington's stood apart, more for its potential than for the actual quality of his scoring, which still had considerable merit. He has now made all four cuts in this, his first season on the tour, apart from equalling his 69 in the second round of Catalan Open. I played well and took my chances," he said simply of a round that contained five birdies, three of them in a row from the 10th, where he started.

Though rocked by bogeys at the 13th, where he was in a greenside trap on the right, and at the 140 yard 14th, where an intended "easy" eight iron went through the green, he held his nerve. And confidence was gradually restored with a run of nine pars before he finished the round in style with a birdie at the long ninth, where he pitched to within a foot of the target.

As it happened, four Irish players carded 69, among them Raymond Burns who, despite an apparently hopeless position after an opening 80, had sufficient pride in his craft to want to do himself justice before leaving here. Ulster colleague David Feherty heads the Irish challenge on 139 three under par entering the third round. "I think the scoring of the leaders is extraordinary, given the difficulty of the greens," he said afterwards.

He then referred to a comment sheet which is handed to each player after his round. As to green speed, the questionnaire asked whether it was slow, medium or fast. "All of the above," suggested Feherty as an answer. Was that what he wrote? "Write that and I'll deny it," he grinned.

But he found a rather neat way of circumventing the problem. At the long ninth, his last hole, a beautifully struck one iron second shot hit an overhanging branch and came to rest 70 yards from the target. From there, the Ulsterman pitched into the hole for a closing eagle three. "It saved me the embarrassment of having to putt," he said.

Des Smyth found no such relief, missing four putts from inside three feet to card four bogeys in the opening five holes. "The nerves were becoming a bit frayed at that stage," he said with some justification. So, it was much to his credit that he managed to cover the remaining 13 holes in two under par for a round of 73 and an aggregate of 141 level with Harrington.

Meanwhile, the remaining Irish - 69 came from McGinley, who has now played seven tournaments this season without missing a cut. "It was a helluva struggle out there," he said afterwards. "I felt shivery; my legs are like jelly. I intend to have a thorough medical when I get back to Dublin."

In those circumstances, there was little joy in knowing on the 11th tee that he needed to cover the remaining holes in one under to have a chance of survival. But he met the challenge with a majestic five iron second shot at the 418 yard 13th, where the ball came to rest inches from the target. For him, it represented a personal triumph over adversity.

Howley also complained of flu symptoms after a 70 that contained four birdies. But he had the psychological lift from a change of putter, back to an old model he had discarded for the Moroccan Open. The result was that he missed none of the tricky three footers that had been a problem on Thursday.

After reaching the turn in level par, he birdied the long 10th, recovering from a greenside trap to three feet. And he went two under par for the round by hitting a sandwedge dead at the long 15th.

By that stage the man from the west had enough in hand not to be overly concerned about a bogey at the 17th where he had a rare lapse off the tee by driving into rough. "I'm very pleased with the way I kept the hall in play," he said afterwards.

When told that Feherty was predicting a winning score, of only eight under, the old Riley reemerged, momentarily. "David's a good pal of mine but he's talking a lot of cobblers," he said, with classic, Aussie finesse.