McDowell and McGrane trail Fisher by six in Porsche European Open
Ross Fisher. Picture: Getty Images
The good news is that Damien McGrane and Graeme McDowell made the cut in the Porsche European Open. The bad new is that they are six shots off the lead and Michael Hoey, Kevin Phelan, Peter Lawrie and Simon Thornton all missed out.
While Hoey’s card is more than safe — he’s 78th in the Race to Dubai — he’s looking to make the DP World Tour Championship and will be keener than ever to do well in the Alfred Dunhill Links next week.
McGrane, who shot a 67 to move up to tied 34th with McDowell (70) on four under, now has a chance to save his card.
But missing the cut was bad news for Lawrie, who was 111th in the Race to Dubaim as well as Phelan (115th) and Thornton (215th).
It was especially galling for Lawrie — the last man to get into the event — who shot a 69 with a hastily assembled set of clubs having only travelled to Bavaria for a Players Committee meeting only to make the field as eighth reserve.
The Dubliner bogeyed the first, birdied the third but then ran up a triple bogey six at the fourth and a double at the par-five eighth. He played the rest of the course in an immaculate four under but the damage was done and his 72 saw him miss the cut by two shots on one-under par.
Hoey (70 70) bogeyed the 18th to miss the cut by one while Phelan, like Lawrie, got off to a rough start by going out in four over and a homeward 32 for a 71 left him alongside Lawrie on one under.
McGrane had six birdies in his 67 but he’s €100,000 short of keeping his card and a big weekend, followed by another good week in Scotland, will be required.
McDowell has already written off 2015 and this week marks the start of the 2016 Ryder Cup campaign for the Rathmore man, who holed a wedge from 100 yards for a par on the 13th in a one under 71.
Graeme McDowell just saved par... from 100 yards! http://t.co/RUEGY5eR17
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) September 25, 2015At the top of the leaderboard, England’s Ross Fisher moved into contention to regain the Porsche European Open title he won seven years ago, firing a six under par second round of 65 to share the halfway with compatriot Graeme Storm and former Masters Champion Charl Schwartzel.
Fisher claimed the prestigious title in 2008 at the London Golf Club in the event’s penultimate staging before it dropped off The Race to Dubai for six years.
Despite the tournament moving to a new venue in Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, he still has ‘good vibes’ associated with the event, and he posted seven birdies to surge up the leaderboard.
The former Ryder Cup player moved to ten under par for the tournament, the same total as South African Schwartzel, who signed for a bogey-free round of 66, and Storm, who chipped in for an eagle three on the tenth hole en route to a 67.
BMW PGA Champion Byeong Hun An also eagled the tenth in his round of 65 and he is one shot behind the leading trio on nine under par, along with Englishman Richard McEvoy, who bogeyed the last hole in fading light to drop out of a share of the lead, posting a round of 67.
A year on from his Ryder Cup heroics, Jamie Donaldson looks to be regaining his form, the Welshman carding a round of 68 to sit three shots back on seven under par, in a share of seventh place.
And on home soil there was a special moment for German Max Kieffer, who made his 22nd consecutive cut on The European Tour with two rounds of 68, meaning he now has the longest active streak of cuts made.
Complete round two scores (par 71)
132 R Fisher (Eng) 67 65, C Schwartzel (RSA) 66 66, G Storm (Eng) 65 67,
133 B An (Kor) 68 65, R McEvoy (Eng) 66 67,
134 J Edfors (Swe) 66 68, D Fichardt (RSA) 65 69,
135 J Donaldson (Wal) 67 68, M Carlsson (Swe) 67 68, M Ilonen (Fin) 69 66, O Fisher (Eng) 66 69, F Fritsch (Ger) 66 69, J Walters (RSA) 67 68, R Bland (Eng) 65 70,
136 L Bjerregaard (Den) 68 68, B Hebert (Fra) 64 72, T Jaidee (Tha) 68 68, S Kjeldsen (Den) 66 70, P Uihlein (USA) 68 68, J Parry (Eng) 66 70, M Jiménez (Esp) 67 69, J Morrison (Eng) 67 69, M Kieffer (Ger) 68 68,
137 R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 67, A Cañizares (Esp) 70 67, M Korhonen (Fin) 70 67, H Otto (RSA) 67 70, A Hansen (Den) 69 68, B Langer (Ger) 66 71, R Green (Aus) 65 72, S Heisele (Ger) 70 67, A Tadini (Ita) 68 69, K Ferrie (Eng) 70 67,
138 S Hend (Aus) 69 69, L Jensen (Den) 68 70, R Karlsson (Swe) 66 72, E Espana (Fra) 69 69, R Finch (Eng) 66 72, Graeme McDowell (Nir) 68 70, B Dredge (Wal) 68 70, P Hanson (Swe) 68 70, Damien McGrane (Irl) 71 67, A Dodt (Aus) 70 68, F Zanotti (Par) 70 68, M Fraser (Aus) 69 69, S Jamieson (Sco) 68 70, N Colsaerts (Bel) 72 66, P Edberg (Swe) 67 71, B Evans (Eng) 68 70, S Benson (Eng) 68 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 68, J Luiten (Ned) 69 69,
139 L Slattery (Eng) 68 71, R Karlberg (Swe) 68 71, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 68 71, M Nixon (Eng) 71 68, A Levy (Fra) 72 67, W Ormsby (Aus) 72 67, C Bouniol (Fra) 69 70, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 70, P Whiteford (Sco) 67 72, G Havret (Fra) 69 70, C Paisley (Eng) 67 72, A Choi (Can) 70 69, S Wakefield (Eng) 69 70, P Mejow (Ger) 68 71,
CUT
140 S Kapur (Ind) 68 72, Michael Hoey (Nir) 70 70, C Lee (Sco) 70 70, V Riu (Fra) 68 72, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 71 69, T Lewis (Eng) 67 73, B Wiesberger (Aut) 64 76, B Ritthammer (Ger) 67 73, D Horsey (Eng) 67 73, M Orrin (Eng) 70 70, D Howell (Eng) 72 68,
141 G Stal (Fra) 71 70, S Hansen (Den) 71 70, J Lagergren (Swe) 70 71, M Ford (Eng) 71 70, J Singh (Ind) 71 70, A Velasco (Esp) 72 69, Y Yang (Kor) 71 70, E De La Riva (Esp) 70 71, Peter Lawrie (Irl) 69 72, Kevin Phelan (Irl) 70 71,
142 R Wattel (Fra) 72 70, H Mahan (USA) 66 76, D Lipsky (USA) 66 76, M Manassero (Ita) 74 68, C Wood (Eng) 68 74, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 67 75, J Scrivener (Aus) 69 73, N Fasth (Swe) 67 75, R Gonzalez (Arg) 69 73, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 75 67, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 70 72, P Maddy (Eng) 69 73,
143 M Tullo (Chi) 70 73, D Woltman (USA) 68 75, A Wall (Eng) 72 71, M Bremner (RSA) 70 73, E Molinari (Ita) 73 70, P Larrazábal (Esp) 73 70, F Aguilar (Chi) 70 73, R Paratore (Ita) 74 69, J Quesne (Fra) 70 73, N Elvira (Esp) 70 73, W Starke (am) (USA) 73 70,
144 G Bourdy (Fra) 72 72, A Otaegui (Esp) 72 72, D Brooks (Eng) 77 67, K Broberg (Swe) 69 75, S Jaeger (Ger) 76 68, A Pavan (Ita) 73 71, T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 76, S Manley (Wal) 72 72, M Rottluff (am) (Ger) 73 71,
145 T Olesen (Den) 70 75, D Gaunt (Aus) 75 70, P Oriol (Esp) 72 73, M Lampert (Ger) 73 72, G Mulroy (RSA) 71 74,
146 M Grönberg (Swe) 75 71, Simon Thornton (Irl) 77 69, J Roos (RSA) 72 74, M Schneider (Ger) 69 77, J Carlsson (Swe) 72 74, A Quiros (Esp) 70 76, M Warren (Sco) 69 77, T Murray (Eng) 72 74,
147 S Hutsby (Eng) 73 74, B Neumayer (Aut) 71 76, A Saddier (Fra) 73 74,
148 J Campillo (Esp) 73 75, S Einhaus (Ger) 70 78, P Archer (Eng) 74 74, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 72 76, M Crespi (Ita) 76 72, M Foster (Eng) 76 72, A Hortal (Esp) 68 80,
149 J Kruger (RSA) 74 75,
150 O Farr (Wal) 73 77, R Santos (Por) 71 79, S Gallacher (Sco) 75 75, O Wilson (Eng) 75 75,
152 E Goya (Arg) 74 78,
155 M Hoffmann (USA) 78 77, C Lloyd (Eng) 77 78,
159 S Strüver (Ger) 84 75,
161 T Levet (Fra) 79 82,
** S Dodd (Wal) 78 WD, C Doak (Sco) 73 RT, J Barnes (Eng) 77 WD, J Van Zyl (RSA) 72 RT.
