Conor Purcell has made the cut in his first PGA event despite a two-over 72 in the second round at the ISCO Championship in Kentucky.
The Dubliner had carded a 68 in Thursday's opening round at the Hurstbourne Country Club course, and while he was not able to match that on Friday, he was still able to stay inside the cut mark on level par in the tournament which is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour.
Purcell, who earned his DP World Tour card at the end of last year, bogeyed the fifth and seventh on Friday as he struggled early on. It didn't get better at the start of his back nine with another bogey on the tenth, before bouncing back with a birdie on 12.
Another bogey on 14 proved a temporary setback as he finished on a positive note with a birdie on the 18th to ensure that he will be involved in the weekend rounds with the cut mark being set at one-over.
However, Séamus Power missed the cut after a 73 left the Waterford man on seven over.
Chan Kim is the runaway leader at the halfway stage after a 68 left the American on 11 under, five clear of the chasing pack.
Kim, who opened with a 61 to lead by four shots, opened with a birdie before dropping three strokes by his 10th hole.
The 35-year-old kick-started his round by chipping in to eagle the fourth, his 13th hole, for the second day with two more birdies bringing him home in 68.
He moved to 11-under-par, five ahead of Germany's Thomas Rosenmueller, Kris Ventura of Norway and American Vince Whaley.
Kim opened the PGA Tour alternate event with a terrific round of 61 on Thursday for a four-stroke advantage. After opening Friday with a birdie at the par-5 10th hole, he gave away his cushion with bogeys at 11, 16 and one.
Kim trailed Beau Hossler by a shot when he reached the fourth hole, where his pitch from 36 yards away came in hot and banged into the hole. He added birdies at seven and eight to climb to 11 under.
The 35-year-old eagled the par-4 fourth hole for the second straight round.
"I don't know what the odds are of doing that, but boy, if I could make four twos on that hole I'd be very happy," he quipped.
Kim - a journeyman who has won 10 titles between the Japan Golf Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour - is halfway to his first PGA Tour triumph.
"I know that, like I said, these guys are so good, somebody's going to catch up," Kim said. "I already know that. The best I can do is handle myself the way I did when I won all those events and that's just to stay patient and play my game, work on sticking to our game plan and I think that should get the job done."
Additional reporting: Reuters
