The demands of links golf are both physical and mental. Pádraig Harrington joked with his caddie Rónán Flood that it felt they’d been through 72 holes after only reaching the midpoint of the Senior Open presented by Rolex at Carnoustie, although the bigger picture was that the Dubliner remained very much in contention for a title that agonisingly evaded him for each of the past two years.
A brilliantly crafted second round of 70 for a halfway total of three-under-par 141 left Harrington in tied-third alongside Australian left-hander Richard Green, three shots adrift of 36-holes leader KJ Choi of South Korea.
Darren Clarke, too, enters the weekend with ambitions to add the title to the one he claimed in 2022: a terrible bogey-bogey start brought a tremendous response from the Tyrone man who covered the rest of his journey in five-under, including a miraculous birdie on the treacherous 18th where his drive was so far right that he played an approach from the 17th fairway to four feet for a closing birdie in a round of 69 for 143.
In all, four of the six Irish players in the field survived the midway cut. Peter Lawrie recovered from a tough front nine (when he turned in 44 strokes to slide in the wrong direction) with a fine effort coming home, which included three birdies, to sign for a 78 for 149. And he was joined on mark by Northern Ireland’s Cameron Clark, who carded a second-round 75.
The wind combined with slow play, as rounds took five hours and 15 minutes to complete, for a tough challenge. Indeed, Harrington’s play of the 17th and 18th, played in opposite directions, were informative as his 3-wood tee shot into the wind on the penultimate hole flew 250 yards while his 3-wood off the 18th reached almost 400 yards.
Harrington’s outward journey featured two birdies and two bogeys to turn in 36 but he added back-to-back birdies on the 13th and 14th in a bogey-free homeward nine to sign for a 70 that kept him very much in the mix.
Harrington lost out by a shot to Clarke in 2022 and lost in a playoff to Alex Cejka last year. “I’m still in there, that’s where you want to be. I was just saying to Ronan, we’ve only played 36 holes, it feels like we’ve done 72 at this stage. It’s been a tough 36 holes with that weather and wind and I’m sure it’s going to be another 36 of tough mental fortitude to come.
“The last two years, I got really close but I started poorly. Coming in off the Majors, I was tired. Obviously I’ve started a lot better this time around. But still, at the end of the day, you’re going to have to play well over the weekend and you’re going to have to shoot the scores and you’re going to have to overcome some of the demons that I have out there,” said Harrington.
On the European Challenge Tour, Conor Purcell produced a stunning bogey-free 65 for a midway total of nine-under-par 131 to claim the midway lead and take a three shots lead into the weekend in the Black Desert NI Open at Galgorm Castle in Ballymena, Co Antrim.
The 27-year-old Dubliner had five birdies – on the fourth, eighth, 11th, 15th and 16th holes – to move into the lead and into a strong position to nail down his DP World Tour card for next season, with a win projected to move him to fourth in the order of merit.
“Me and my caddie did a great job. There was a lot of tricky windy conditions, a lot of crosswinds, and we were getting nice numbers along with hitting nice shots and gave ourselves plenty of looks. I kept myself in position off the tee and it didn’t feel as difficult as it probably should have because of that. Hopefully, more of the same over the weekend. Anytime you’re up there [on the leaderboard], it gives you that extra motivation,” said Purcell, chasing a first win on the Challenge Tour.
Purcell carried a three shots lead over the trio of Dutchman Wil Besseling, Jeppe Kristian Andersen of Denmark and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren into the weekend. Waterford’s Gary Hurley also remained very much in the mix, after carding a second round 70 for 137.
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