Niall Kearney lived dangerously with his last approach shot to the 18th – narrowly making it over the water hazard with a mishit 3-wood – but he deserved any luck that came his way as the 33-year-old Dubliner added a second round 68 for an 11-under-par midway total of 133 to claim a two-stroke lead in the BMW International Open in Munich.
If he were to look over his shoulder, among those cast in the role of pursuers is multiple European Tour winner Bernd Wiesberger and current world number 14 Viktor Hovland.
But Kearney – who played in the 2009 Walker Cup which featured Rickie Fowler and Tommy Fleetwood – has been around long enough to keep his feet firmly on the ground and, making the most of limited opportunities on the European Tour, he will seek to improve on his career-best tied-fourth finish in last month’s Canary Islands Championship as he seeks a breakthrough and potentially life-changing success.
Kearney completed his weather-interrupted bogey free first round (for a 65) in the morning, and then followed up with a 68 for 133, which saw him claim five birdies and a lone bogey on the 17th. A hat-trick of birdies from the ninth to the 11th set him on his way, but it was his play on the closing 18th that had his heart in his mouth.
“It was a slight push. It felt as if the 3-wood was a little bit too much club. I was aiming for the left half of the green knowing it would be a difficult putt. I got under it a little bit. It finished great, but it wasn’t my intended line,” conceded Kearney of an approach that finished six feet from the hole. He missed the eagle chance but tapped in for the birdie.
Kearney has been at home in Dublin for the past fortnight (since missing the cut at the European Open) and arrived refreshed for this latest event, ahead of next week’s DDF Irish Open. Of the Munich course, he remarked: “The course is fantastic and it suits my eye. It’s old-fashioned with avenues and it’s quite tight off the tee. I am really enjoying it.”
Kearney was the only one of the quartet of Irishmen in the field to survive into the weekend, with Pádraig Harrington (71 for 143), Jonathan Caldwell (75 for 145) and Paul Dunne (73 for 146) missing out.
Four spots
On the PGA Tour, Séamus Power – who earned his place in the field for the Travelers Championship in Hartford, Connecticut – followed up his opening round 66 with a 67 for a midway total of seven-under-par 133, just two strokes behind leader Jason Day.
Of his game and making it through that qualifying lottery, Power said: “Monday qualifiers are tough; a lot of good players and only four spots. It’s one of those days you need your game to be there. I’ve been playing really well recently.
“I also Monday qualified for Charlotte, whenever that is five, six weeks ago, so that gave me a bit of confidence. That was the first time Mondaying for a PGA Tour event, and all of a sudden it just doesn’t seem as un-doable in a way like it had before. So that gave me bit of momentum.”
Power is aiming to make it into the top-125 on the FedEx Cup rankings (he is currently 166th) in order to regain a full tour card and didn’t even look for an invite into next week’s Irish Open as he puts all his focus on that task.
“I would love the play the Irish Open every year, but you still have to worry about your job and trying to secure [a PGA Tour card]. If I got a win or something like that, I mean, I would play absolutely every year.”
Meanwhile Stephanie Meadow recovered from an opening round 78 with a superb 69 to reach the midpoint of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship on three-over 147. However, the Northern Irishwoman missed the cut by a stroke.
America’s Nelly Korda leads on 11 under par after a stunning second round of 63. Leona Maguire was among the later, second wave of players - she sits in a share of 27th place on two under par after a round of 70.
Second round scores & totals in the European Tour BMW International Open, Golfclub Munchen Eichenried, Munich, Germany
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, Par 72)
:
133 Niall Kearney 65 68
135 Viktor Hovland (Nor) 68 67, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 67 68, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 67 68, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 65 70, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 66 69
136 Shaun Norris (Rsa) 67 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 66 70
137 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 67, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 68 69, Andy Sullivan 68 69, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 67, Matthias Schmid (Ger) 68 69, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 70 67, Calum Hill 69 68, Matthew Jordan 67 70, Sebastian Garcia (Spa) 64 73
138 Justin Harding (Rsa) 69 69, Vincent Norrman (Swe) 69 69, Sean Crocker (USA) 71 67, Justin Walters (Rsa) 72 66, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 69 69, Garrick Porteous 67 71, Svn-Hwan Kim (USA) 70 68, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 67 71, J. C. Ritchie (Rsa) 66 72
139 Min-Woo Lee (Aus) 66 73, Takumi Kanaya (Jpn) 72 67, Ignacio Elvira (Spa) 69 70, Marc Warren 68 71, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 70 69, Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 70 69
140 Wade Ormsby (Aus) 65 75, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 70 70, David Law 69 71, Andres Romero (Arg) 72 68, Robin Roussel (Fra) 71 69, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 69 71, Josh Geary (Nzl) 69 71, Daniel Gavins 69 71, Louis de Jager (Rsa) 72 68
141 Scott Hend (Aus) 73 68, Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 70 71, Sam Horsfield 64 77, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 73 68, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 71 70, Andrew Johnston 66 75, Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 68 73, Soeren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 68, David Horsey 71 70, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 69 72, Benjamin Poke (Den) 72 69, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 70 71, Wil Besseling (Ned) 72 69, Jacques Kruyswijk (Rsa) 69 72, Matthew Baldwin 68 73
142 Richard Mansell 74 68, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 73 69, Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 69 73, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 71 71, Steven Brown 72 70, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 72, Antoine Rozner (Fra) 76 66, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 70 72, Philipp Mejow (Ger) 71 71, Freddy Schott (Ger) 73 69, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 69 73, Jeff Winther (Den) 74 68, Grant Forrest 69 73, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 71 71, James Morrison 73 69, David Howell 74 68, Darius van Driel (Ned) 71 71, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 74 68, Dale Whitnell 69 73, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 69 73, Nicolai von Dellingshausen (Ger) 72 70
Irish missed the cut: 143 Padraig Harrington 72 71; 145 Jonathan Caldwell 70 75, 146 Paul Dunne 73 73.
Collated second round scores & totals in the LPGA KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Atlanta Athletic Club, Johns Creek, Georgia (USA unless stated, Par 72):
133 Nelly Korda 70 63
134 Lizette Salas 67 67
137 Celine Boutier (Fra) 73 64, Cydney Clanton 70 67, Alena Sharp (Can) 69 68
138 Madelene Sagstroem (Swe) 70 68
139 Ind-Bee Park (Kor) 71 68, Charley Hull (Eng) 68 71, Esther Henseleit (Ger) 71 68
140 Danielle Kang 73 67, Austin Ernst 69 71, Hyo-Joo Kim (Kor) 71 69, Xiyu Lin (Chn) 69 71, Ryann O’Toole 71 69, Wichanee Meechai (Tha) 73 67, Mina Harigae 70 70, Giulia Molinaro (Ita) 70 70, Dottie Ardina (Phi) 70 70
141 Gabriela Ruffels (Aus) 76 65, Anna Nordqvist (Swe) 71 70, Paphangkorn Tavatanakit (Tha) 70 71, Jessica Korda 69 72, Nanna Koerstz Madsen (Den) 70 71, Yu Liu (Chn) 72 69, Marina Alex 72 69, Yealimi Noh 69 72
142 Som-Yeon Ryu (Kor) 72 70, Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 70 72, Georgia Hall (Eng) 75 67, Leona Maguire (Irl) 72 70, Chella Choi (Kor) 70 72
143 Ind-Gee Chun (Kor) 70 73, Yuka Saso (Phi) 73 70, Alexis Thompson 73 70, Ally Ewing 73 70, Moriya Jutanugarn (Tha) 76 67, Caroline Masson (Ger) 71 72, Gerina Piller 70 73, Lindsey Weaver 73 70, Dana Finkelstein 75 68, Daniela Holmqvist (Swe) 69 74, Jeong-Eun Lee (Kor) 69 74
144 Brooke Henderson (Can) 74 70, Lydia Ko (Nzl) 72 72, Amy Yang (Kor) 72 72, Sarah Burnham 73 71, Mariah Stackhouse 74 70, Janie Jackson 76 68
145 Sei-Young Kim (Kor) 76 69, Eun-Hee Ji (Kor) 74 71, Min-Jee Lee (Aus) 73 72, Lauren Stephenson 77 68, Christina Kim 75 70, Su-Hyun Oh (Aus) 73 72, Luna Sobron (Spa) 75 70, Lauren Kim 73 72
146 Jin-Young Ko (Kor) 75 71, Brittany Lang 74 72, Angela Stanford 72 74, Hinako Shibuno (Jpn) 76 70, Jennifer Kupcho 77 69, Michelle Wie 77 69, Megan Khang 73 73, Pajaree Anannarukarn (Tha) 74 72, Albane Valenzuela (Swi) 73 73, Annie Park 78 68, Alison Lee 74 72, Perrine Delacour (Fra) 76 70, Paula Reto (Rsa) 74 72, Jeon-Geun Lee (Kor) 73 73
The following players did not make the cut:
147 Maria Fassi (Mex) 70 77, Nasa Hataoka (Jpn) 75 72, Melissa Reid (Eng) 74 73, Brittany Lincicome 72 75, Amy Olson 78 69, Jodi Ewart (Eng) 76 71, Sarah Kemp (Aus) 78 69, Stephanie Meadow (NIrl) 78 69, Jennifer Song 75 72, Lindy Duncan 73 74, Ruixin Liu (Chn) 76 71, Caroline Inglis 73 74, Mo Martin 76 71, Pornanong Phatlum (Tha) 73 74
148 Hannah Green (Aus) 72 76, Cristie Kerr 78 70, Mi-Rim Lee (Kor) 75 73, Sophia Popov (Ger) 73 75, Cheyenne Knight 75 73, Gaby Lopez (Mex) 75 73, Emily Kristine Pedersen (Den) 78 70, Sandra Changkija 72 76, Brittany Altomare 73 75, Sarah Schmelzel 75 73, Katherine Kirk (Aus) 78 70, Kristen Gillman 76 72, Lauren Coughlin 75 73
149 Hee-Young Park (Kor) 73 76, Wei Ling Hsu (Tai) 75 74, Azahara Munoz (Spa) 73 76, Nicole Broch Larsen (Den) 80 69, Jaye Marie Green 73 76, Marissa Steen 75 74, Elizabeth Szokol 76 73, Jennifer Chang 73 76
150 Sung-Hyun Park (Kor) 76 74, Shanshan Feng (Chn) 74 76, In-Kyung Kim (Kor) 76 74, Bianca Pagdanganan (Phi) 76 74, Stephanie Connelly 76 74, Angel Yin 79 71, Aditi Ashok (Ind) 73 77, Brianna Do 77 73
151 Pernilla Lindberg (Swe) 75 76, A-Lim Kim (Kor) 77 74, Stacy Lewis 76 75, Celine Palomar-Herbin (Fra) 78 73, Esther Lee 77 74, Kristy McPherson 78 73
152 Bronte Law (Eng) 78 74, Mi-Jung Hur (Kor) 79 73, Matilda Castren (Fin) 75 77, Ayako Uehara (Jpn) 76 76, Jane Park 81 71, Ana Belac (Slo) 80 72, Ssu-Chia Cheng (Tai) 78 74, Min-Seo Kwak (Kor) 75 77, Ji-Won Jeon (Kor) 78 74
153 Jenny Shin (Kor) 81 72, Jennifer Coleman 79 74, Ashleigh Buhai (Rsa) 77 76
154 Min Lee (Tai) 79 75, Thidapa Suwannapura (Tha) 77 77, Jing Yan (Chn) 77 77, Linnea Stroem (Swe) 77 77, Andrea Lee 75 79
155 Yani Tseng (Tai) 78 77, Carlota Ciganda (Spa) 79 76, Kelly Tan (Mal) 78 77
156 Anne van Dam (Ned) 77 79, Klara Spilkova (Cze) 74 82, Muni He (Chn) 82 74, Maria Torres (Pur) 74 82
157 Alisa Rodriguez 74 83, Hae-Ji Kang (Kor) 79 78
158 Laura Davies (Eng) 77 81, Joanna Coe 77 81, Caroline Hedwall (Swe) 80 78, Nam-Yeon Choi (Kor) 80 78
159 Ashley Grier 87 72, Allie Knight 78 81, Tiffany Chan (Hkg) 84 75
160 Haley Moore 79 81
161 Moira Dunn 79 82
169 Samantha Morrell 81 88
Collated second round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Travelers Championship, TPC River Highlands, Cromwell, Connecticut, United States of America (USA unless stated, Par 70):
131 Jason Day (Aus) 69 62
132 Kramer Hickok 63 69, Bubba Watson 66 66
133 Brice Garnett 65 68, Russell Henley 67 66, Kevin Kisner 70 63, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 69 64, Troy Merritt 68 65, Justin Rose (Eng) 70 63, Seamus Power (Irl) 66 67
134 Ryan Armour 70 64, Patrick Cantlay 68 66, Doug Ghim 68 66, Talor Gooch 64 70, Mark Hubbard 69 65, Tom Lewis (Eng) 67 67, Ian Poulter (Eng) 68 66, Scottie Scheffler 69 65, Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 69 65
135 Kevin Chappell 68 67, Stewart Cink 68 67, Bryson DeChambeau 69 66, Harris English 67 68, Charley Hoffman 72 63, Beau Hossler 65 70, Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 63 72, Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 66, Maverick McNealy 65 70, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 68 67, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 70 65, Doc Redman 69 66, Patrick Reed 69 66, Cameron Smith (Aus) 67 68, Brian Stuard 69 66
136 Jonas Blixt (Swe) 68 68, Tyler Duncan 69 67, Brian Harman 68 68, Zach Johnson 66 70, Matt Jones (Aus) 70 66, Brooks Koepka 69 67, Nate Lashley 69 67, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 65 71, Cameron Percy (Aus) 70 66, Patrick Rodgers 65 71, Sepp Straka (Aut) 66 70, Robert Streb 68 68, Kevin Tway 70 66
137 Sam Burns 66 71, Jim Herman 68 69, Hank Lebioda 69 68, Ryan Moore 72 65, Kevin Na 69 68, Andrew Putnam 70 67, Chez Reavie 70 67, Robby Shelton 73 64, Brendon Todd 68 69, Lucas Herbert (Aus) 70 67
138 Abraham Ancer (Mex) 72 66, Paul Casey (Eng) 71 67, Austin Eckroat 72 66, Will Gordon 71 67, Lanto Griffin 71 67, David Hearn (Can) 70 68, Tom Hoge 67 71, J. B. Holmes 70 68, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 67 71, Dustin Johnson 70 68, Peter Malnati 68 70, Denny McCarthy 72 66, William McGirt 71 67, Phil Mickelson 69 69, Sam Ryder 69 69, Adam Scott (Aus) 69 69, J. J. Spaun 71 67, Kyle Stanley 70 68, Harold Varner III 70 68, Kristoffer Ventura (Nor) 69 69, Andrew Svoboda 69 69, Aaron Wise 73 65
The following players did not make the cut:
139 Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 68 71, Keegan Bradley 72 67, Joseph Bramlett 67 72, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 74 65, Scott Harrington 69 70, Garrick Higgo (Rsa) 69 70, Sung-Hoon Kang (Kor) 68 71, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 67 72, Chengtsung Pan (Tai) 72 67, Scott Piercy 69 70, Adam Schenk 72 67, Brandt Snedeker 68 71, Scott Stallings 72 67, Brendan Steele 69 70, Kevin Streelman 67 72, Vaughn Taylor 70 69, Cameron Tringale 71 68, Richy Werenski 71 68, Vincent Whaley 69 70
140 Rafael Campos (Pur) 72 68, Michael Gligic (Can) 68 72, Brandon Hagy 72 68, Max Homa 69 71, Danny Lee (Nzl) 71 69, Tyler McCumber 69 71, John Pak 68 72, Rory Sabbatini (Svk) 73 67, Kevin Stadler 66 74, Ryan Brehm 73 67, Stephen Stallings Jr. 68 72
141 Austin Cook 74 67, Chesson Hadley 74 67, Chris Kirk 71 70, Russell Knox (Sco) 73 68, Sean O’Hair 70 71, Rob Oppenheim 71 70, Pat Perez 68 73, Chase Seiffert 73 68, Davis Thompson 73 68, Rafael Cabrera (Spa) 72 69
142 Scott Brown 69 73, Brian Gay 72 70, Patton Kizzire 70 72, Chase Koepka 69 73, Hunter Mahan 69 73, Nick Taylor (Can) 70 72, Michael Thompson 72 70
143 Tony Finau 76 67, Ted Potter Jr. 67 76, Sebastian Cappelen (Den) 72 71, D. J. Trahan 73 70
144 Jason Dufner 72 72, Rickie Fowler 69 75, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 74 70, Adam Hadwin (Can) 71 73, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 74 70, David Lipsky 75 69, Adam Long 76 68, Matthew NeSmith 74 70, Roger Sloan (Can) 73 71
145 Bronson Burgoon 73 72, J. J. Henry 71 74, Harry Higgs 73 72, Michael Kim 74 71, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 70 75, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 73 72, Martin Trainer 74 71, Matthew Wolff 76 69
146 Keith Mitchell 71 75, Hudson Swafford 75 71
147 Alex Beach 73 74
148 Wyndham Clark 71 77, Bo Van Pelt 77 71
149 Grayson Murray 73 76
150 Luke Donald (Eng) 78 72
155 Nick Watney 78 77
157 Brian Keiser 83 74
