Cormac Sharvin is tied for seventh after a 68 but it was Gary Hurley who produced the most spectacular finish as he closed with three birdies in his last four holes to make the cut in the Barclays Kenya Open.

The 24-year-old West Waterford man was two shots outside the eventual one-under-par cut mark when he mixed just one birdie with five bogeys in his first 11 holes.

He was still four-over for the day and one-over for the tournament with four holes to play but showed plenty of courage to finish birdie-birdie-par-birdie for a one-over 72 and safety on two-under par.

The 2015 Walker Cup star might be seven shots behind Frenchman Adrien Saddier, who fired a flawless second round of 62 to carry a one-shot lead into the weekend, but he was delighted to produce three birdies under the cosh in the first Challenge Tour event of the season.

Hurley tweeted: “After a very long stressful day searching, I managed to locate my liathróidí and finish strong to make the weekend! #grind #BallsInIrish”

"I holed a 14-foot putt on 15 and a 13 footer on 17," Hurley said after getting up and down from short of the green for his birdie four at the last.

"The putt on 15 gave me some confidence because I was really fighting my ball-striking."

Hurley’s fellow Walker Cup teammate Sharvin made an eagle,  five birdies and four bogeys in an adventerous, three-under-par 68 to go into the last two rounds tied for seventh, just five shots behind Saddier on seven-under-par at Nairobi’s Muthaiga Golf Club.

Like Hurley, five-time European Tour winner Michael Hoey had to dig deep to eventually make the cut by two shots on three-under after a 69

Back on the Challenge Tour after losing his European Tour card last year, the 38-year-old followed a bogey at the first four birdies in his next six holes.

But despite going back to square one following a triple bogey eight at the 10th, he birdied the 12th and the par-five 18th to make the weekend comfortably.

Moyola Park's Chris Selfridge missed out by three as he had double-bogey sevens at his 13th and 16th en route to a 74 that left him on two-over-par.

According to the Challenge Tour, it was a day packed with drama, with an early albatross and a prize-winning hole-in-one.

Finland’s Kalle Samooja is Saddier’s closest rival after a second round of 66 took him to 11 under par at the halfway point, while his compatriot Oliver Lindell also made headlines on day two with a hole-in-one at the 13th.

Welshman Rhys Davies holds third place on ten under par while England’s Aaron Rai is one shot further back, with Jacques Kruyswijk and Matt Wallace tied for fifth on eight under par.

Kenyan legend Dismas Indiza thrilled the local crowds with an impressive round of 66 as the 48-year-old made the cut in his home event for the fifth year in succession.

Two of his compatriots also made it to the weekend, including Riz Charania, who was aided greatly by an albatross on his first hole of the day — the 539 yard, par-five 10th — as the cut ultimately fell at one under par.

Scores after round 2

130 A Saddier (Fra) 68 62, 

131 K Samooja (Fin) 65 66, 

132 R Davies (Wal) 65 67, 

133 A Rai (Eng) 67 66, 

134 M Wallace (Eng) 68 66, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 66 68, 

135 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 67 68, M Delpodio (Ita) 69 66, 

136 J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 66, C Doak (Sco) 66 70, S Fernandez (Esp) 66 70, O Wilson (Eng) 67 69, L Gagli (Ita) 67 69, M Lampert (Ger) 69 67, M Baldwin (Eng) 67 69, A Meronk (Pol) 67 69, J Ahlers (RSA) 64 72, 

137 R James (Wal) 69 68, F Laporta (Ita) 68 69, J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 68 69, B Robinson (Eng) 67 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 65 72, J Rutherford (Eng) 70 67, 

138 G Boyd (Eng) 67 71, D Van Driel (Ned) 70 68, O Lindell (Fin) 73 65, C Sordet (Fra) 71 67, C Lee (Sco) 67 71, N Lindstrom (Swe) 66 72, R Santos (Por) 70 68, T Murray (Eng) 67 71, M Lafeber (Ned) 66 72, B Virto (Esp) 67 71, D Indiza Anyonyi (Ken) 72 66, L De Jager (RSA) 68 70, 

139 M Kinhult (Swe) 72 67, R McGowan (Eng) 71 68, M Orrin (Eng) 69 70, T Shadbolt (Eng) 69 70, Michael Hoey (Nir) 70 69, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 71 68, M Laskey (Wal) 70 69, 

140 O Lengden (Swe) 65 75, S Connor (Eng) 71 69, C Braeunig (Ger) 71 69, J Hansen (Den) 72 68, Gary Hurley (Irl) 68 72, B Neil (Sco) 73 67, J Suri (USA) 72 68, R Charania (Ken) 70 70, A Wennstam (Swe) 66 74, C Griffiths (Eng) 70 70, R Evans (Eng) 70 70, E Dubois (Fra) 70 70, D Law (Sco) 71 69, S Ngige (Ken) 67 73, M Lundberg (Swe) 72 68, 

141 M Madsen (Den) 69 72, W Besseling (Ned) 67 74, P Widegren (Swe) 68 73, D Van Tonder (RSA) 74 67, C Mivis (Bel) 69 72, O Stark (Swe) 65 76, B Evans (Eng) 68 73, N Johansson (Swe) 70 71,

Missed cut 

142 M Ovesen (Den) 67 75, R Ainley (Ken) 71 71, P Howard (Eng) 68 74, R De Smidt (RSA) 68 74, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 72 70, C Berardo (Fra) 73 69, N Geyger (Chi) 72 70, S Engell Andersen (Ken) 71 71, S Forsström (Swe) 72 70, P Tarver-Jones (Eng) 69 73, B Easton (RSA) 67 75, J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 72 70, D Huizing (Ned) 71 71, A Chesters (Eng) 67 75, 

143 J Brun (Fra) 75 68, D Odhiambo (Ken) 70 73, A Odoh (Ngr) 69 74, R Saxton (Ned) 68 75, E España (Fra) 71 72, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 73 70, A Rozner (Fra) 71 72, G Porteous (Eng) 74 69, A Pavan (Ita) 70 73, P Maddy (Eng) 71 72, F Maccario (Ita) 72 71, 

144 J Roos (RSA) 70 74, Chris Selfridge (Nir) 70 74, J Makitalo (Fin) 69 75, M Ford (Eng) 72 72, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 71 73, N Ravano (Ita) 73 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 73 71, A Nandwa (am) (Ken) 69 75, 

145 G Snow (Ken) 73 72, S Ferreira (Por) 68 77, R McCarthy (Aus) 69 76, M Haastrup (Den) 72 73, C Ford (Eng) 70 75, M Kramer (Ger) 72 73, V Riu (Fra) 72 73, C Bull (Eng) 68 77, S Brown (Eng) 72 73, O Farr (Wal) 72 73, H Joannes (Bel) 72 73, M Eggenberger (Sui) 71 74, 

146 A Connelly (Can) 72 74, D Wakhu (Ken) 75 71, R Kellett (Sco) 75 71, A Schwartz (Fra) 75 71, N Rokoine (Ken) 72 74, F Daux (Fra) 72 74, 

147 B Rusch (Sui) 73 74, K Hesbois (Bel) 71 76, V Perez (Fra) 74 73, K Timbe (Ken) 73 74, 

148 R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 74 74, A Tadini (Ita) 72 76, A Velasco (Esp) 72 76, B Simwa (Ken) 81 67, S Jeppesen (Swe) 73 75, J Senior (Eng) 74 74, E Di Nitto (Ita) 75 73, N Ngugi (Ken) 74 74, G Kubwa (am) (Ken) 77 71, 

149 H Casey (Eng) 71 78, J Sjöholm (Swe) 77 72, 

150 J Girrbach (Sui) 69 81, M Williams (Zim) 69 81, C Wangai (Ken) 75 75, M Fenasse (Fra) 74 76, S Shah (am) (Ken) 76 74, 

151 S Heisele (Ger) 71 80, J Okello (Ken) 78 73, 

152 C Blomstrand (Swe) 78 74, J Madoya (Ken) 78 74, D Opati (Ken) 74 78, N Mudanyi (Ken) 76 76, F Wanzala (Uga) 74 78, N Simwa (Ken) 75 77, 

153 J Allan (Eng) 79 74, D Foos (Ger) 75 78, 

154 T Omuli (Ken) 72 82, J Karanja (Ken) 74 80, 

155 N Molell (Tan) 79 76, 

157 J Karichu (am) (Ken) 78 79, 

159 B Njoroge (Ken) 75 84, 

161 K Bollo (am) (Ken) 74 87, 

167 A Is-Haq (am) (Ken) 84 83, 

** S Soderberg (Swe) 70 WD, M Omondi (Ken) DQ 0, B Hellgren (Swe) RT 0