Graeme McDowell hopes it will be 13th time lucky in the Irish Open at Fota Island this weekend as Rory McIlroy made an early exit from the event for the second year in succession.
McDowell carded a second round of 66 to lie just two shots off the half-way lead held by Finland's Mikko Ilonen – who added a 68 to his opening course-record 64 – but Ryder Cup team-mate McIlroy could only manage an erratic 69 to miss the cut by a shot on one over. A bogey on the eighth hole, his 17th, also put paid to former winner Shane Lowry's chances, a 72 also leaving him on one over.
“It’s very frustrating,” said McIlroy, who won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last month. “To make six birdies and an eagle and shoot just two under means there were a lot of mistakes and wasteful shots.
“To miss the cut for the second year in a row is not a nice position to be in. I don’t know what else to say, it’s very disappointing.”
McIlroy needed to finish birdie-eagle to qualify for the weekend and although he duly holed from long range on the 17th and hit a brilliant escape from the trees on the last, he was unable to chip in from the front of the green.
“I’m proud of myself how I fought out there and didn’t give up and tried for the last shot,” added McIlroy after his first missed cut on the European Tour in 2014. “I gave myself a chance to try to make the cut with the big birdie putt on 17, but just wasn’t meant to be.
“I just need to tighten it all up and become a lot more consistent, make the bad shots a little bit better and not be as wasteful around the greens. If I can do that, I know my game is right there. I’ve got a couple weeks off now to work on my game a little bit, play some links golf and get ready for the Scottish Open and the Open.”
McDowell made his tournament debut when Fota Island last hosted the event in 2002 and finished 27th, but that was one of just six half-way cuts the former US Open champion has made in 12 appearances.
The 34-year-old has never recorded a top-10 finish but carded six birdies and one bogey to join 2009 runner-up Robert Rock and France's Romain Wattel on eight under par.
“There’s always a first time for everything,” McDowell joked. “I’ve been unhappy with my game now for a few months, really getting frustrated with myself in general and trying to be a little too perfect. I tried to loosen myself up a little bit and try to enjoy my golf a little bit. I’m surprised and excited to be in contention.
“Normally there’s some pressure and expectation in the Irish Open. I think maybe coming off the US Open last week, with as much pressure and frustration and expectation as you feel there, perhaps that’s why I’m dealing with it a little bit better because it nearly feels like the proverbial walk in the park by comparison.
“This is a fun game to play. We are very lucky to play it for a living but last week bordered on the unenjoyable because the golf course was so frustratingly difficult.
“I’ve played in front of many big crowds before, but maybe none as passionate here as the Irish crowd. There’s nothing quite like it when a crowd is pulling for you and it’s a fun experience. It’s something I’ve never experienced before, except perhaps at a Ryder Cup.”
Rock lost a play-off to Lowry at Baltray in 2009 but claimed the first prize of €500,000 as Lowry was still an amateur, while he also finished fifth in 2006 and second to Paul Casey last year.
“It’s a tournament I like playing but I think it’s more the time of year,” Rock said. “I enjoy the tournaments at the start of the year (he held off Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy to win in Abu Dhabi in 2012) but when we travel further afield I don’t play well and it batters your confidence.
“It takes time to rebuild that and it seems to be this time of year it comes back.”
Italian Marco Crespi and English duo Simon Khan and Matthew Nixon were three off the pace on seven under, Nixon coming home in 31 to card a 65, the joint lowest score of the day.
“I made a nice birdie on the first and then hit it straight in the water on the next,” said Nixon, who was fourth in the NH Collection Open earlier this season. “I made double there and I thought this could be a long round of golf. I made some nice swings after that and for once my putts all went in.”
Nixon’s second shot to the par-four sixth also went in from 93 yards, just moments after playing partner Mark Staunton had done the same from 120. “I’ve never seen that happen. It was quite nice,” Nixon added.
Three-time Major winner Pádraig Harrington was a shot further back after a 67, while Gareth Maybin recorded another of the 65s to also make it to six under.
Irish amateur Gary Hurley was the only Irish amateur of the four that teed it up to make the cut, his second round of 66 moving him to four under.
Michael Hoey is a shot further back after a 71, Darren Clarke is two under after a 68 and Peter Lawrie is on one under after a 72. John Kelly makes up the eight-strong Irish contingent left in the tournament after a second straight level-par round of 71.
English teenager Matt Fitzpatrick made the cut in his first event as a professional on one under after a 69.
SCOREBOARD
(Irish and British unless stated, par 71 (x) denotes amateur)
132 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 64 68
134 Robert Rock 68 66, Romain Wattel (Fra) 69 65, Graeme McDowell 68 66
135 Marco Crespi (Ita) 68 67, Matthew Nixon 70 65, Simon Khan 69 66
136 Sihwan Kim (Nor) 69 67, Gareth Maybin 71 65, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 67 69, Pádraig Harrington 69 67
137 Roope Kakko (Fin) 71 66, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 66 71, Anders Hansen (Den) 67 70, Gary Stal (Fra) 70 67
138 Chris Wood 69 69, Adam Gee 68 70, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 69, Matthew Baldwin 67 71, Stuart Manley 70 68, Daan Huizing (Ned) 67 71, Paul Casey 69 69, Andrew McArthur 71 67, (x) Gary Hurley 72 66, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 68
139 Daniel Willett 73 66, David Howell 72 67, Graeme Storm 69 70, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 70, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 69, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 71, Christopher Doak 69 70, Michael Hoey 68 71
140 Steve Webster 70 70, Ross Fisher 68 72, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 70, Marcel Siem (Ger) 66 74, Tom Lewis 68 72, Darren Clarke 72 68, Alvaro Quiros (Esp) 70 70, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 70 70, Sam Walker 72 68, Richard Finch 68 72, Alejandro Canizares (Esp) 72 68, Mike Miller 73 67, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Esp) 72 68
141 Richard Bland 73 68, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 71, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 73, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 72, David Horsey 72 69, Jake Roos (Rsa) 68 73, Peter Lawrie 69 72, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 72 69, Oliver Fisher 73 68, Hao-Tong Li (Chn) 69 72, Marc Warren 71 70, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 71, Matthew Fitzpatrick 72 69
142 Ricardo Santos (Por) 71 71, John G Kelly 71 71, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 71 71, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 66 76, Anthony Wall 71 71, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Esp) 69 73, James Heath 70 72, Stephen Dodd 73 69, Alastair Forsyth 71 71, Francois Calmels (Fra) 73 69, Jack Doherty 71 71, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 74, Jason Knutzon (USA) 73 69, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 71 71, Justin Walters (Rsa) 68 74, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 72 70
The following players missed the half way cut:
143 Richie Ramsay 73 70, Brinson Paolini (USA) 69 74, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 70 73, Jens Dantorp (Swe) 71 72, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 70 73, Simon Dyson 70 73, Morten Orum Madsen (Den) 70 73, Lee Slattery 70 73, Rory McIlroy 74 69, Shane Lowry 71 72, Paul Lawrie 72 71, Tommy Fleetwood 71 72, Victor Riu (Fra) 71 72
144 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 70 74, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 74 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 72, Jorge Campillo (Esp) 70 74, Scott Jamieson 74 70, (x) Gavin Moynihan 69 75, Duncan Stewart 71 73, Stephen Gallacher 73 71, Jbe Kruger (Rsa) 74 70, Kevin Phelan 71 73, Wen-yi Huang (Chn) 73 71, Andreas Harto (Den) 73 71, Mark Foster 73 71, Adrian Otaegui (Esp) 72 72
145 Cian McNamara 71 74, Craig Lee 73 72, Paul Waring 74 71, Daniel Brooks 70 75, Branden Grace (Rsa) 74 71, Carlos del Moral (Esp) 72 73, Ruaidhri McGee 77 68, Alexander Levy (Fra) 72 73, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 72
146 Damien McGrane 72 74, John Parry 73 73, (x) Dermot McElroy 73 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 72 74, Tyrrell Hatton 73 73, David Drysdale 71 75, Richard Green (Aus) 73 73, Eddie Pepperell 72 74, Simon Thornton 72 74, Paul McGinley 73 73, Julien Quesne (Fra) 74 72
147 Gareth Shaw 76 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 76, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 77 70, Eamonn Brady 76 71, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 74 73, Nacho Elvira (Esp) 73 74, Simon Wakefield 75 72
148 Tjaart Van Der Walt (Rsa) 75 73, Joachim B Hansen (Den) 77 71, Jamie McLeary 74 74, Robert Dinwiddie 73 75, Alexandre Kaleka (Fra) 73 75, James Morrison 75 73,
149 Peter Whiteford 71 78, Garrick Porteous 74 75, Eduardo De La Riva (Esp) 74 75, Edouard Dubois (Fra) 74 75
150 Brett Rumford (Aus) 72 78, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 76 74, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 74 76, Brian McElhinney 73 77, David Higgins 72 78
151 Andrew Sullivan 76 75, Daniel Sugrue 76 75, Jin Jeong (Kor) 77 74
152 Daniel Im (USA) 77 75, Scott Henry 73 79
153 (x) Robert Cannon 79 74
154 Brendan McGovern 82 72, John Hahn (USA) 76 78
155 Damian Mooney 77 78, Mark Staunton 76 79
156 Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 76 80
