European Tour rookie Mikael Lundberg has stormed into the lead on day two of the Smurfit European Open at the K-Club. Lundberg had a share of the lead going into today's second round but an impressive seven-under-par 65 has left him sitting on top of the leaderboard by himself as he leads by three strokes from Welshman Ian Woosnam and Norwegian Henrik Bjornstad.
The 27-year-old Swede, with two top-five finishes already this season, birdied the last four holes, having already birdied the first, fourth, seventh and ninth, and suffered just one bogey, on the second. Lundberg qualified for the European Tour after finishing fourth on the Challenge Tour last season having missed out on a tour card on three previous attempts.
Although he is a relative unknown, he has been without a sponsor since he turned pro six years the 27-year-old Swede is determined to make a name for himself at the K-Club. "Hopefully I will shoot in the 60s in the next two rounds and we'll see where that's going to finish," he said. With £333,330 up for grabs for the winner, Lundberg could jump up to sixth on the Ryder Cup points table if he can maintain his lead until the end of the final day. Another relative unknown is second-placed Bjornstad, who shot a bogey-free round of 68 today and despite lying 116th on the Order of Merit, is in a strong position going into the final two rounds.
Woosnam is hoping to break a barren spell that stretches back to June 1997 when he won in a play-off against Sandy Lyle and if he wins at the K-Club this weekend, will secure a place in the Open in two weeks' time. The Welshman carded six birdies over a front nine of 30 today to finish with a 66.
However, he admitted afterwards that life as a golfing pro is not as enjoyable as it used to be. "I could be fishing, shooting or down in Australia watching the Lions," he mused. "It's not so bad going around Europe, but apart from the Masters every year I don't think I'm going to do any more long trips. I find it boring," he explained.
Darren Clarke is best-placed of the Irish at the half-way stage after he shot two birdies on holes two and four and then eagled the last to jump to 4th place on eight-under-par. His eagle earned him the biggest cheer of the day and having already shattered the course record here two years ago, Clarke is looking in dangerous form this weekend. "I've not had a bogey for 36 holes and that's a pretty impressive start for a course playing as difficult as this," he admitted afterwards.
Padraig Harrington is one shot further behind after an impressive 67 today, which included seven birdies and two bogeys. With both players heading to Dublin for the Robbie Williams concert and both hoping to catch the Lions in action tomorrow morning, neither wanted an early start for their third rounds but thanks to their sound performances today, both will not tee off until after lunch tomorrow.
Of the rest of the Irish, only Eamonn Darcy and Damien McGrane have made the cut for the weekend. Darcy finished on level par after a 69 while McGrane is one-over after a 72. Paul McGinley just lost out on two-over, David Higgins finished on three-over, Stephen Hamill on four-over, Des Smyth and Philip Walton on six-over, John Dwyer on seven-over, Ronan Rafferty on 12-over and John Dignam on 13-over.
Scotland's Andrew Oldcorn, hoping to make this year's Ryder Cup team, has suffered a major set-back when he was forced to pull out of the event because of flu after yesterday's opening round of 77. Oldcorn is currently ninth on the Ryder Cup points table but with a total purse of £2million on offer at the K-Club this weekend, he is likely to drop down the rankings come Sunday.
Meanwhile, England's Anthony Wall was presented with an additional prize of a weekend at the five-star K-Club to add to his bottle of champagne which he received for a hole-in-one at the 213-yard 14th hole yesterday. Wall watched on enviously today when his playing partner Stephen Leaney made a hole-in-one on the 173-yard eighth hole and won himself a £16,000 Renault car in the process. However, Wall and another English player, Neil Cheetham, who made a hole-in-one on the 170-yard third, were presented with their additional rewards today.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
