Conor Purcell out in front on NI Open leaderboard after Galgorm progress
Conor Purcell finished with a three-stroke lead on day two around Galgorm and declared “very pleased” with his NI Open efforts.
Ireland’s Purcell sits top of the Black Desert NI Open presented by Tom McKibbin leaderboard thanks to a second successive day of progress.
A bogey-free five-under-par scorecard of 65 despite difficult conditions has left him nine under overall.
Denmark’s Jeppe Kristian Andersen was next in line – with Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren and Wil Besseling from the Netherland sharing second spot.
“I’m very pleased,” said Purcell. “Any time you can go bogey-free it’s very nice, and especially round here.
"It’s quite demanding, so I did a good job.
“Me and my caddie did a great job. There were a lot of tricky wind conditions, a lot of crosswinds, but we were hitting good shots.
“I kept myself in position off the tee, and I think it didn’t feel as difficult as it probably should’ve because of that.”Purcell sits 24th in the Road to Mallorca rankings thanks to three top-10 placings inside 13 appearances over the first half of the campaign.
A final position inside the top 20 of the rankings would secure Purcell promotion to the DP World Tour.
“Any time you’re up there, it gives you that extra motivation to keep it going for four days,” said Purcell, who is pushing for a first Challenge Tour triumph. “I’ve been playing nicely this year so, hopefully, there’s more of the same tomorrow.
“After missing the cut last week I made sure to tell myself my game wasn’t too far away.
"It felt very close and it’s just about piecing it together for four rounds.
“I know golf is well supported up here, and I love playing in front of people, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
Pierre Pineau holds fifth on five under – ahead of a trail of six players one back.
Oihan Guillamoundeguy, Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Lucas Bjerregaard, Jack Senior, Per Längfors and Toby Hunt will be aiming to move up the leaderboard from that six-way tie in sixth during today’s play.
The third round of the NI Open opens at Galgorm from 8.05am – with Purcell teeing off alongside Andersen and Lagergren at 12:00pm.