Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts and Australia’s Cameron John lead the Dunhill Links Championship on the DP World Tour at the halfway stage after a day where the Irish players failed to truly ignite.
Tom McKibbin will be most pleased of the Irish players with his round of 68 at Carnoustie, which tied the third best score of the day at that course, to move up to six under, eight strokes behind the leading pair.
McKibbin’s six-under total is matched by Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, while Pádraig Harrington is one shot better on seven under. Alex Maguire looks set to miss Saturday’s cut on one over, barring heroics in his third round.
McIlroy’s highlight on a frustrating day on the greens came with a driver in hand on the par-4 14th hole, where his tee shot finished in the middle of the green from 390 yards out, sparking an unimpressed reaction the green from Robert MacIntyre, who was putting out. McIlroy two-putted for one of his four birdies in a round of 69, leaving him needing a low round at St Andrews on Saturday to get back into contention.
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The tournament is a pro-am where golfers play with amateurs for the first three days across Carnoustie, St Andrews and Kingsbarns, before a final round at St Andrews. On Friday, McIlroy played with his father Gerry, Billy Horschel and PGA Tour chief executive Jay Monahan, while on Saturday he will play with Dean Burmester and Saudi PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan at the Old Course, on a day which will also be Gerry’s 65th birthday.
After a first round at Carnoustie, the most high-profile players in the field went to Kingsbarns looking for low scores but slightly stronger winds protected the course better than Thursday when it gave out eight sub-65 scores.
On Friday, the only player to go sub-65 was five-time Major winner Brooks Koepka, who shot an impressive 64, the best score of the day across the three courses, to move to nine under. Playing partner Jon Rahm had a clumsy round of 71 with four bogeys to finish on eight under.
Ryder Cup team-mates Tyrrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood will be considered the danger men in the pack at 11 under. Fleetwood shot a flawless 65 at Kingsbarns, seven birdies and no bogeys, while Hatton shot a 68 that included an eagle three at the third hole.
Hatton said he was left frustrated by the round.
“At times, I rode my luck today, I got some good bounces to avoid some bunkers, but I felt I missed so many chances at the same time. It is hard to hole putts out there,” Hatton told Sky Sports.
“Hopefully the greens are rolling nicer over [at St Andrews] and I can hole some putts.”
Hatton was less diplomatic with his opinion on Kingsbarns’ greens during the round, caught on microphone saying “the greens are so s**t” after playing partner MacIntyre missed a putt on the 16th hole. Now playing on the LIV Golf tour, Hatton is a former two-time winner of the event and could earn significant points for Ryder Cup qualification with a victory this week.
But Hatton and the field will be chasing the lead of John and Colsaerts, with the Belgian veteran satisfied with his 65 and how he took advantage of his “local knowledge” at Carnoustie after more than 20 years on tour.
“It requires a little bit more of local knowledge. Having played in this [before] definitely helps,” he said.
“I didn’t really get off to the best of starts. Then I started to get on a roll and birdied nine, which is not a hole that you birdie usually, and then went a couple on the spin, which was great, and kept it going.
“It is normally a lot harder than this. It blows a lot harder than this. And the light’s great. A couple of times during the last couple of days, you had that nice light that’s coming in.”
Meanwhile, Waterford golfer Séamus Power added a five-under 67 to his opening 66 to move to 11 under and into the top 10 early on in the second round of the Sanderson Farms Championships in Jackson, Mississippi.
