Gallagher making his own name

What's in a surname? For Stephen Gallagher it constitutes fielding questions that bear little relation to his job as a golf professional. At Co Louth Golf Club yesterday the 29-year-old Scot shot a second round of two-under-par 70 to lie a couple of shots behind Peter Lonard at the halfway stage of the Nissan Irish Open.

Having negotiated a whistle-stop tour of the birdies and bogeys on his card, it was down to the serious questions. Stephen is a nephew of former Ryder Cup captain Bernard Gallagher but more pertinently a cousin of Kirsty Gallagher, the striking looking presenter of a Sky television programme.

"Do you feel extra pressure as Bernard's nephew?" "Not at all it has never bothered me through all my days." "You are the cousin of Kirsty as well?"

"I get more fame through that one, especially now that she is back on telly," he says. "But no, it doesn't bother me."

The inquisition continued. "When was the last time you saw Kirsty?" "At Sunningdale. I work a lot and she works a lot but I see her two or three times a year. She is a good girl, good at what she does."

"What about the golf, lads?" Gallagher probably thought but didn't say.

Having enjoyed a decent amateur career that included a couple of national titles, a Lytham trophy and membership of the victorious Walker Cup team at Royal Porthcawl in 1995, he turned professional but it was only last year he managed to break into the European Tour Order of Merit top 50.

This season he has enjoyed three top-10 finishes and on the evidence of the first 36 holes at Baltray has an opportunity to improve on that record.

"It's early doors, a lot of golf to play but if I keep chiselling away and keep thinking the same way, who knows? I certainly feel I have a chance to win now, feel I have the game, which is half the battle - a bit more self-belief."