Reigning South African Open champion Thriston Lawrence shrugged off two bogeys on Friday to card a seven-under-par 65 in the second round of the Horizon Irish Open at The K Club in Straffan, Ireland and move into a share of 10th.
Lawrence made one bogey on each nine, with four birdies on the front nine and five on the back nine as he took his halfway tally to seven-under. That was six strokes off the lead which was shared by first-round leader Shubhankar Sharma of India and England’s Jordan Smith, who carded 66 and 67 respectively. Ross Fisher of England, Germany’s Hurly Long and Calum Hill of Scotland were in third, fourth and fifth. Lawrence shared 10th with nine other players, one stroke behind local hero Shane Lowry who was on eight-under in ninth.
Louis de Jager had a five-under 67 to join, amongst other, Rory McIlroy on five-under through 36 holes in a share of 26th. Erik van Rooyen had a two-under 70 to be in a share of 40th on three-under together with Zander Lombard who slipped to a two-over 74 after his strong opening round.
Bryce Easton made the cut on two-under after a second-round four-under 68.
Wilco Nienaber, Deon Germishuys, Oliver Bekker, JC Ritchie, Daniel van Tonder, Ockie Strydom and Justin Walters all missed the cut.
