Mortimer continues to set the pace

Irish PGA championship: David Mortimer of Newlands has no intentions of giving up his place at the top of the leaderboard in the €140,000 Sherry Fitzgerald PGA Irish Championship at Druids Heath. After taking the lead in the first round he is still top of the pile at the halfway stage.

Mortimer (31) added a 72 yesterday to his opening 68 for a 36-hole total of 140, two under par and a two-shot lead over his nearest rivals.

The former Connacht amateur interprovincial made two birdies in his round but suffered a double-bogey six at the 17th.

He also dropped another stroke but has a two-shot advantage over Leslie Walker, Robert Giles and newcomer Stephen Fitzpatrick. Walker was heading for top of the leaderboard but dropped two strokes in his closing three holes.

The fastest mover on show yesterday was Bryan Smyth, another debutant in the competition, who trimmed 10 shots off his opening 78 to equal the best round of the tournament, carded on Thursday by Mortimer. That elevated the Ardee assistant to 146, six shots off the lead and not out of the big money by any means.

"Another couple of rounds like that over the weekend and I will make my biggest packet yet as a professional," said Smyth.

Smyth stormed through his opening nine holes, starting at the 10th tee, with four birdies and no dropped shots. He slipped up at the first hole with a bogey five but regained the lost ground at the long fourth after a booming 330-yard drive. At the eighth hole his eight iron approach was plugged in a bunker and he pencilled in bogey five for his super 68 and a halfway total of four-over-par 146.

Another player to dip into the red yesterday and greatly boost his chances was Coollattin's Peter Jones. He stormed around in 69 for 145, alongside John Dignam. Jones had a steady round of three birdies and one bogey to improve on his opening 76 by seven shots.

Huddersfield-born Simon Thornton, the PGA Ulster champion, and one of the tournament favourites, isn't entirely unhappy with his 36-hole total of two-over-par 144. He made two birdies, three-putted twice and had to take a drop out of the quarry for a 73.

Ex-champions and former Ryder Cup players Philip Walton and Eamon Darcy are still very much in the mix. Walton is tucked in three shots behind leader Mortimer while Darcy, with a birdie finish, is a further shot back.