Lowry shows Ryder Cup fight with stunning 65; Dredge leads

Bradley Dredge. Picture: Getty Images

Shane Lowry showed Darren Clarke that he won’t give up on his Ryder Cup dream without a fight when he followed his opening 75 with a sensational six under 65 to make the cut in the Made in Denmark.

Clarke must make his three captain’s picks on Tuesday and while Lowry’s recent form makes him an outsider for a pick behind the experienced Lee Westwood and Martin Kaymer or the in-form Russell Knox or Thomas Pieters, he has two more rounds to show Clarke he can still be an asset at Hazeltine.

Cool, blustery conditions played into Lowry’s hands at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort and he fired seven birdies, including four in his last six holes, to improve by 10 strokes on his opening effort and soar 101 places to tied 30th on two under par.

He’s still a daunting 11 strokes behind Welshman Bradley Dredge, who leads by three shots on 13 under par from Swede Joakim Lagergren with wildcard rival Pieters just four shots off the pace in joint third with Richard Sterne after battling to a level par 71 under Clarke’s nose

Paul Dunne is the best of the Irish, seven strokes off the pace in joint 12th after a 68 while Cormac Sharvin and Peter Lawrie shot 70s to make the level par cut on the mark.

Clarke (71) missed his ninth cut from 12 starts this year while Michael Hoey (76) is in danger of losing his card as he finished well off the pace on seven over.

West Waterford’s Gary Hurley followed his 69 with a nightmare 85 — the worst round of his short professional career. He dropped four shots in his first four holes and never recovered.

Dredge, who has finished runner up and sixth in his two previous appearances in the event,  is now a cumulative 30 under par for his ten rounds in Made in Denmark and will be looking to convert that into a first European Tour title since his victory in the Omega European Masters ten years ago.

Bradley Dredge

“You come to courses sometimes and it just seems to suit your eye and I’m comfortable on the greens so you can never explain it. Golf is always funny and I’m just glad that I’m here and performing.

“You try not to think too much about the score but I thought under 70 was going to be a good score out there today. It really was blowing, approach shots were tough, putting was very difficult to start with, and I felt as though the wind died a little bit towards the end but a tough day so obviously I’m delighted with my score. I’m in good position for the weekend, you know we are halfway through. I’ve been in a good position a few years ago and got beaten by Marc Warren. I feel as though my game is in good shape, and weather dependent we will see how it goes, but I know I’m going to have to play well on the weekend to fend off the other guys and hopefully I can do that.”

Joakim Lagergren

“That putt on the 18th was nice to stay under par for today. It was a different game today. There were not many regular shots out there today, a few punchy ones and then hit it up in the air when it’s down wind. I am happy with the position and hopefully I can do as good on the weekend.”

Thomas Pieters

“I had a really rough lie there on 18. I don’t know it plugged going in there at a soft pace, but I’m very happy and it was a good bunker shot. I struggled a bit coming in but 71 wasn’t a bad score. I made some really good up and downs for par today. My ball striking was off but I got it around in 71 and I’m in a good position.”

Complete second round scores - par 71

129 B Dredge (Wal) 63 66,

132 J Lagergren (Swe) 62 70,

133 R Sterne (RSA) 66 67, T Pieters (Bel) 62 71,

134 A Otaegui (Esp) 68 66, T Lewis (Eng) 62 72,

135 S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 67, O Wilson (Eng) 70 65, D Lipsky (USA) 65 70, T Aiken (RSA) 68 67, J Winther (Den) 68 67,

136 K Broberg (Swe) 69 67, L Haotong (Chn) 67 69, R Ramsay (Sco) 67 69, R Gouveia (Por) 69 67, P Lawrie (Sco) 70 66, Paul Dunne (Irl) 68 68,

137 G Murray (Sco) 70 67, D Brooks (Eng) 67 70, J Kruger (RSA) 71 66, J Roos (RSA) 65 72,

138 E Molinari (Ita) 70 68, C Hanson (Eng) 69 69, C Paisley (Eng) 67 71, J Singh (Ind) 66 72,

139 R Karlsson (Swe) 69 70, M Kaymer (Ger) 69 70, C Aronsen (Nor) 69 70, S Benson (Eng) 67 72,

140 Y Yang (Kor) 72 68, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 70, L Canter (Eng) 70 70, M Lundberg (Swe) 71 69, R Coles (Eng) 69 71, J Donaldson (Wal) 68 72, J Morrison (Eng) 67 73, J Knutzon (USA) 67 73, Shane Lowry (Irl) 75 65, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 69, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 68 72,

141 P Peterson (USA) 72 69, R Evans (Eng) 73 68, B Virto (Esp) 69 72, P Edberg (Swe) 69 72, C Lee (Sco) 72 69, M Southgate (Eng) 69 72, S Dyson (Eng) 67 74, D Im (USA) 73 68, J Axelsen (am) (Den) 71 70,

142 J Van Zyl (RSA) 67 75, D Drysdale (Sco) 69 73, J Walters (RSA) 70 72, D Løkke (Den) 71 71, Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 72 70, B Hebert (Fra) 70 72, C Costilla (Arg) 67 75, M Haastrup (Den) 69 73, Peter Lawrie (Irl) 72 70, B Evans (Eng) 71 71, A Hansen (Den) 71 71,

CUT

143 T Linard (Fra) 69 74, S Cappelen (Den) 72 71, D Burmester (RSA) 70 73, L Bjerregaard (Den) 69 74, O Lindell (Fin) 71 72, G Storm (Eng) 70 73, S Webster (Eng) 68 75, D Dixon (Eng) 74 69, S Manley (Wal) 73 70, R Green (Aus) 73 70, R Paratore (Ita) 73 70, K Ferrie (Eng) 68 75, S Jamieson (Sco) 65 78,

144 G Stal (Fra) 72 72, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 70 74, M Foster (Eng) 70 74, F Fritsch (Ger) 70 74, J Scrivener (Aus) 69 75, B Rumford (Aus) 70 74, N Bertasio (Ita) 67 77, J Hugo (RSA) 71 73, A Hartø (Den) 70 74, A Dodt (Aus) 74 70, N Lindstrom (Swe) 70 74, M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 70 74,

145 R Davies (Wal) 75 70, U Van Den Berg (RSA) 69 76, S Chawrasia (Ind) 71 74, M Warren (Sco) 74 71, J Hansen (Den) 71 74, A Sullivan (Eng) 71 74, J Parry (Eng) 71 74, S Gros (Fra) 67 78,

146 P Meesawat (Tha) 70 76, M Madsen (Den) 73 73, L Jensen (Den) 73 73, C Del Moral (Esp) 73 73, N Ravano (Ita) 74 72, D Papadatos (Aus) 70 76, R Fisher (Eng) 69 77, A McArthur (Sco) 69 77, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 71 75, N Fasth (Swe) 74 72,

147 T Pilkadaris (Aus) 72 75, J McLeary (Sco) 77 70, T Bjørn (Den) 72 75, Darren Clarke (Nir) 76 71, D Gaunt (Aus) 73 74, M Søgaard (Den) 76 71, J Yule (am) (Eng) 75 72,

148 O Fisher (Eng) 73 75, F Laporta (Ita) 70 78, R McEvoy (Eng) 71 77, R Hjelm (Den) 74 74, M Hansen (am) (Den) 71 77,

149 M Carlsson (Swe) 75 74, M Simonsen (Den) 72 77, R McGowan (Eng) 74 75, J Edfors (Swe) 73 76, D Fichardt (RSA) 70 79, L Lee (Bra) 76 73, Michael Hoey (Nir) 73 76, J Robinson (Eng) 71 78, E España (Fra) 73 76, M Gladbjerg (Den) 75 74, Z Lombard (RSA) 69 80, J Sjöholm (Swe) 73 76,

150 J Fahrbring (Swe) 76 74, T Olesen (Den) 75 75, L Nemecz (Aut) 73 77, S Kapur (Ind) 75 75, G Boyd (Eng) 74 76, S Hansen (Den) 75 75,

151 B Åkesson (Swe) 77 74, N Tinning (Den) 70 81, J Hahn (USA) 77 74, S Jeppesen (Swe) 73 78,

152 J Carlsson (Swe) 73 79, D Horsey (Eng) 75 77, 

153 M Ford (Eng) 72 81, E Goya (Arg) 73 80, M Jonzon (Swe) 77 76, N Holman (Aus) 78 75, E Pepperell (Eng) 75 78, H Porteous (RSA) 81 72, C Baech (Den) 77 76, 

154 Gary Hurley (Irl) 69 85, R Kakko (Fin) 77 77,

155 D Vancsik (Arg) 72 83, C Berardo (Fra) 74 81, 

156 P Dedek (Cze) 74 82, 

163 J Busby (Eng) 82 81, 

168 J Jeong (Kor) 85 83, 

RT S Khan (Eng) 76, RT G Axell (Swe) 71, DQ Gavins (Eng)