Irish move into medals frame

GOLF/Eisenhower Trophy: Irish hopes of a medal position in the World Amateur Team Golf Championships in Kuala Lumpur were boosted yesterday when they improved their overall position by 16 places.

On the first day, the two counting scores aggregated seven over par, but yesterday they went round the Bunga Raya course in level par to move into a share of 12th spot - nine strokes behind joint leaders France and the US.

And with two rounds remaining there is still an outside chance of making the top three.

Athlone's Colm Moriarty, the 23-year-old South of Ireland champion, led the revival as he carded a one-under-par 71, while World Universities champion Justin Kehoe, from Birr, posted a 73. For the second consecutive day it was the card of Portmarnock's Noel Fox which was discounted as he slumped to a 78.

Moriarty made a steady start, parring the first five holes before wedging to 18 inches for a birdie four at the sixth on his way to the turn in 35.

He three-putted the 10th before missing the green to the left at the 12th and settling for a bogey five.

But back-to-back birdies at 15 and 16 worked wonders. He actually holed his wedge shot from 100 yards at the 15th for a three, and wedged to eight feet at the next and knocked in the putt before finishing with two pars.

Kehoe also reached the turn in one-under-par 35. He three-putted the third to drop a stroke, but then birdied both the par five holes on the outward stretch, the sixth and eighth.

Kehoe bogeyed the 10th and 16th but parred the rest to add a 37.

Meanwhile, defending champions US, who had started out at seven under par, five clear of the chasing pack, slipped badly, with US Amateur champion Ricky Barnes having two eights in a 77 and DJ Trahan being the non-counter with four sixes and a seven on his card.

Hunter Mahan matched the par of 72 on the Bunga Raya course, but the team slipped to just two under par and, going into the penultimate round, share the lead with France who were level yesterday.

Argentina are third, three strokes off the pace but one in front of Austria and England, in joint fourth.

Wales finished the day in 11th place on their own having moved up the leaderboard dramatically from joint 28th, while Scotland slipped to a disappointing 26th placing.

LEADING 36-HOLE SCORES: 286 - France, USA; 289 Argentina; 290 Austria, England (71 G Wolstenholme, 76 R Walker, discarded 77 J Elson); 291 Chinese Taipei, Finland, New Zealand, Philippines; 292 Germany; 294 Wales (70 D Price, 73 L Harpin, discarded 74 N Edwards); 295 Australia, Ireland (71 C Moriarty, 73 J Kehoe, discarded 76 M Fox), Spain, Thailand; 296 Columbia, Denmark, Korea, Malaysia, Switzerland; 297 Pakistan, 289 Brazil, Japan, Norway, Sweden; 299 Scotland (70 J Doherty, 77 S McKenzie, discarded 80 G Gordon); 300 Italy.

CHALLENGE TOUR: Argentine Gustavo Rojas still leads after yesterday's second round of the Challenge Tour Grand Final in Bordeaux. He fired a level par 71 to be just one ahead of England's David Dixon.

In spite of making a double bogey six at the ninth, Peter Lawrie shot up the leaderboard with a fine back nine of four-under-par 32, making an eagle three at the 10th and birdies at 14 and 17. His 67 for 138 just as the weather worsened placed him into sole possession of fourth spot with two rounds remaining.

Gary Murphy was out in the worst of itand it proved to be his undoing. The man from Kilkenny was cruising at five under par before he had a triple-bogey six at the 12th, on his way to a back nine of 41.

LEADING SCORES (British & Irish unless stated): 136 - G Rojas (Arg) 65 71; 137 - D Dixon 67 70, J Van Hauwe (Fr) 72 65; 138 - P Lawrie 71 67; 139 - S Kammann (USA) 72 67; F Widmark (Swe) 69 70; S Wakefield 74 65. Other scores: 142 - G Murphy 68 74; 147 - D McGrane 72 75.