Kevin Phelan is making steady progress at Q-School. Picture: David Lloyd / www.golffile.ieKevin Phelan is the only Irish player inside the qualifying places at the halfway stage of the First Qualifying Stage Section C at Ribagolfe in Portugal.

The Waterford Castle professional came back from a poor start to finish the day where he started, tied for 10th, after a one over 73 left him on one under par.

Belgium’s Thomas Pieters opened a commanding five stroke lead  after a five under par 67 took him to 12 under 132 at a venue where the top 24 and ties progress to the Second Stage at three Spanish venues in November.

Mourne amateur Reeve Whitson, who was tied for 10th with Phelan after an opening 70, was just one over for the day with six holes to go.

But he played them in four over for a 77 that left him two shots outside the qualifying mark on three over.

Whitson later tweeted: “Only thing that will cheer me up after 36 putts is @LFC beating @ManUtd about 10-0 and Suarez scoring 8 of them… #welcomebackteeth.”

Knock’s Nicky Grant shot a seven over 79 to slip to 84th on 10 over and needs a good third round just to make the 54-hole cut.

There are no Irish in action at Bogogno where Italy’s Alessio Bruschi continues to make the most of home advantage as he holds a one stroke lead at the halfway mark.

Bruschi followed his brilliant opening 64 with a three under par 69 to move to 11 under par and one clear of Swiss amateur Joel Girrbach.

The goal is not to win but simply to progress through to the next stage to move another step closer to the dream ticket to the European Tour and a place in the top 24 and ties at Bogogno is the target over the next two rounds.

Ribagolfe scores after round  2:

132 T Pieters  (Bel) 65 67,

137 D Berger (USA) 67 70,

139 G Piris Mateu (Esp) 71 68,

140 D Palm (Swe) 69 71,

141 J Gallegos (am) (Esp) 71 70,

142 M Trainer (USA) 70 72, S Dartnall (Aus) 73 69, V Blazquez (Esp) 68 74, E Larrañaga (Esp) 68 74,

143 A McLardy (RSA) 71 72, M Ureta  (Chi) 67 76, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 72 71, X Guzman (Esp) 69 74, Kevin Phelan (Irl) 70 73,

144 B Virto (Esp) 71 73, R Hjelm (Den) 70 74, S McNamara (USA) 73 71, C Ortiz (Mex) 70 74, E Cole (USA) 71 73, J Krantz (Can) 68 76,

145 F Adarraga (Esp) 73 72, J Griffin (USA) 72 73, X Poncelet  (Fra) 70 75, A Long (USA) 70 75, D Suazo  (Esp) 68 77, J Murphy (USA) 72 73, G Tonelli  (Ita) 76 69, C Rodiles (Esp) 75 70, J Sarasti (am) (Esp) 74 71,

<Top 24 and ties, above, after 72 holes will qualify for Second Stage>

146 A Hortal  (Esp) 72 74, G O’Mahony (USA) 72 74, N Cochran (USA) 72 74, J Kelly (USA) 75 71, W Strickler (USA) 72 74, M Bey (Fra) 74 72, A Christie (Eng) 74 72, R De Sousa (Sui) 71 75,

147 P Williamson (USA) 74 73, N Dahlgren (Fin) 73 74, R Mattila (Fin) 73 74, G Canizares (Esp) 71 76, Reeve Whitson (am) (Nir) 70 77,

148 N Bjorling (Swe) 71 77, K Storgaard (Den) 73 75, B Lee (USA) 72 76, J Bragulat  (Esp) 74 74, J Carlota (am) (Por) 73 75, M Pavon (am) (Fra) 73 75,

149 A Theodore (USA) 74 75, M Quiros (Esp) 75 74, D Borda (Esp) 75 74, J Rangel (USA) 76 73, R Bastard (Eng) 78 71, B Etchart  (Esp) 77 72, F De Haas (Ned) 73 76, D Booth (Eng) 77 72, S Hansen (Nor) 76 73, C Loop (USA) 77 72, W Murillo (Ven) 75 74, P Rolland (am) (Bel) 75 74,

150 R Becker (Bra) 76 74, R Holland (Eng) 75 75, D Osorio (Esp) 75 75, A Gutierrez (Esp) 72 78, K Subregis (am) (Fra) 74 76,

151 M Cobo (Esp) 74 77, P Kelly (Eng) 76 75, S Seijo (Esp) 76 75, D Corsby (Eng) 77 74, B Tilley (USA) 74 77, D Silva Jr (Por) 74 77, T Ferrer (am) (Esp) 75 76,

152 G Elena (Esp) 77 75, S Soderberg (Swe) 76 76, G Parker (Eng) 77 75, J Back (Kor) 76 76, T Simola (Fin) 73 79,

153 X Puig (Esp) 74 79, T Curtis (Eng) 74 79, M Jedrzeyczyk (Pol) 75 78, J Parron (Esp) 79 74, B Detweiler (USA) 76 77, M Rawitzer (am) (USA) 78 75,

154 P Karantzias (Gre) 78 76, J De Lope (Esp) 76 78, Nicky Grant (Nir) 75 79, K Turlan (am) (Fra) 76 78,

155 J Osorio Valencia (Esp) 78 77, A Parr (Can) 79 76,

156 L Lespinasse (Fra) 76 80, T Ayala (USA) 81 75, P Badawy (USA) 77 79,

157 E Gibbs (USA) 78 79,

158 T Grava  (Fra) 77 81,

160 S Frost (USA) 80 80,

161 J Martin (Esp) 81 80,

164 J Lee (Esp) 82 82,

** C Balmaseda  (Esp) 75 DQ, J Pitt (Eng) 77 RT, R Yoo (USA) 84 DQ, C Nielsen (Swe) DQ  0, R Lopez Perales (Esp) DQ  0.

 

Bogogno Scores after round  2:

133 A Bruschi  (Ita) 64 69,

134 J Girrbach (am) (Sui) 65 69,

136 P Francis (USA) 70 66,

137 A Bolognesi (Ita) 68 69, C Arendell (USA) 71 66, M Scodro (USA) 72 65,

138 A Ahokas (Fin) 69 69, H Leon (Chi) 69 69, G Main (USA) 70 68,

139 M Richardson (Eng) 70 69, A Saddier (Fra) 70 69, D Geminiani (Ita) 71 68, A Maestroni  (Ita) 70 69, M Rominger  (Sui) 75 64, H Leon (Chi) 69 70,

140 A Romano  (Ita) 69 71, M Jensen (USA) 68 72,

141 A Grammatica  (Ita) 73 68, J McLister (USA) 70 71, F Laporta (Ita) 73 68, C Pfau (Aut) 71 70, N Holman (Aus) 71 70, M Hoffman (Can) 69 72,

142 G Molteni (Ita) 72 70, H Hwang (Kor) 73 69, M Svahlin (Swe) 73 69, N Bertasio (Ita) 75 67,

<Top 24 and ties, above, after 72 holes will qualify for Second Stage>

143 N D’Incau  (Sui) 68 75, J Camargo (Esp) 71 72, L Nielsen (Den) 72 71, T Gornik (am) (Slo) 74 69,

144 D Sandberg (Swe) 73 71, L Lee (Bra) 71 73, J Magnusson (Swe) 71 73, M Ruiz (Par) 72 72, E Calisto (Ecu) 76 68, S Anderson (USA) 71 73, M Martinson (USA) 73 71, C Berardo (Fra) 73 71, E Dugas USA) 73 71, O Stark (Swe) 72 72, M Cea (am) (Ita) 73 71,

145 K Roy (USA) 75 70, S Thomas (Can) 72 73, B Hopfinger (USA) 73 72, F Svanberg  (Sui) 73 72,

146 T Bosco-Cwiok (Pol) 75 71, H Satama (Fin) 73 73, L Guanti (Ita) 72 74, A Campanile  (Ita) 74 72, N Peyrichou (Fra) 72 74, E Di Nitto (am) (Ita) 73 73,

147 R Sebastian Tirado (Esp) 76 71, P Simard (Esp) 71 76, P Ricci (Ita) 76 71, I Sanchez-Palencia  (Esp) 73 74, J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 75 72, N Savic (Srb) 75 72, F Testa (am) (Ita) 75 72,

148 F Colombo (Ita) 75 73, J Verselin (Fra) 75 73, L Scotto (Ita) 76 72, F Maccario (am) (Ita) 76 72, E Amacher (am) (Sui) 75 73,

149 C Blomstrand (Swe) 77 72, O Suhr (Den) 79 70, C Guaraldi (Ita) 74 75, L Motta (Ita) 72 77, K McLister (USA) 75 74,

150 P Peracino (Fra) 76 74, O Bonning (Swe) 78 72, F Figueroa (Esa) 72 78, F Suits (USA) 77 73, C De Stefani (am) (Ita) 76 74, G De Filippi (am) (Ita) 75 75,

151 C Davies (Wal) 74 77, J Burnier (Sui) 73 78, P Terreni (Ita) 73 78, M Miloro (Ita) 76 75, O Gilmartin  (Sui) 76 75,

152 K Watkins (USA) 82 70, I Korvenmaa (Fin) 76 76,

153 P Gal  (Cze) 76 77,

154 C Dvorak (Aut) 78 76, Y Kafelnikov (Rus) 80 74, G Seegmuller  (Bel) 76 78, P Mueller (am) (Ger) 76 78, D Albertini (am) (Sui) 80 74,

155 J Nodér (Sui) 75 80, R Guerrero Lauria (Ven) 74 81, M Nichols (Eng) 78 77, O Nystrom (Swe) 76 79,

156 A Perrino  (Ita) 78 78, F Celano (Ita) 80 76, K Bozzi (Ita) 75 81,

157 J Field Jnr (USA) 80 77, E Shriver (USA) 82 75, R Wingardh (Swe) 77 80, M Dobias (am) (Sui) 82 75,

159 G Cuquejo (Esp) 77 82,

160 N Desmoulins (Fra) 80 80, S Pettersson (Den) 79 81,

163 J Paton (USA) 87 76,

** K Bobanovic (Aus) RT  0.