Conor Purcell has a three-shot lead heading into the weekend of the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin. The Dubliner followed up an opening round 66 with a bogey-free five under par 65 at Galgorm Castle.
”Any time you can go bogey-free it’s very nice, and especially round here. It’s quite demanding, so I did a good job,” said the 27-year-old who is still searching for his first Challenge Tour success.
“Me and my caddie did a great job. I think there was a lot of tricky wind conditions and a lot of cross-winds, and we were getting nice numbers along with hitting good shots, and we gave ourselves plenty of looks. I kept the card clean and managed to hit some good shots.”
Purcell has a handy lead over the trio of Will Besseling, Jeppe Andersen and overnight leader Joakim Lagergren. Gary Hurley stayed in touch with a level par round of 70 today which leaves him in a share of 13th, six shots behind Purcell. Jonny Caldwell was the only other home golfer to make the cut which fell at one over par.
Purcell added; “I kept myself in position off the tee and I think it didn’t feel as difficult as it probably should’ve because of that. Hopefully, I can keep putting myself in position.
“You never know what the weather is going to be like here in Ireland, so we’ll prepare for all conditions, rest up and get ready to go.
“It’s been good, especially after missing the cut last week. I made sure not to tell myself my game wasn’t too far away. It felt very close even though I didn’t make the cut. The game has definitely been there, it’s just about piecing it together for four rounds.”