Harrington 11 behind in Senior Open defence at Gleneagles
Padraig Harrington’s hopes of retaining his ISPS Handa Senior Open title suffered a major reverse when he slipped 11 shots behind leader Cameron Percy on a demanding day at Gleneagles.
The four-time senior Major winner followed his opening 70 with a two-over 72 to sit in the pack on two-over at the King’s Course.
Australian Percy backed up his first round 63 with a 68 to lead by three shots on nine-under from Jerry Kelly and by five from Henrik Stenson, Ernie Els and Markus Brier.
“Obviously very happy,” Percy said. ”It's such a hard golf course. You've got to concentrate on every single shot. There's no easy holes or anything.
“You can lose your ball on every shot. That's what I like. It keeps me tuned in, if that makes sense.”
Paul McGinley battled to shoot 75 in difficult conditions to make the weekend on three-over but Darren Clarke missed the five-over cut by three shots after a 77.
Catching the leader is also an uphill task for Séamus Power, who was eight shots behind leader Michael Kim at halfway in the 3M Open in Minnesota.
Kim shot a 12-under 59 — the 16th sub-60 score in PGA Tour history — to lead on 14-under as he seeks his first win since last year’s Open de France.
Power made an eagle and three birdies in a 68 to move into the top 20 on six-under as Kim holed eight putts of 10 feet or more.
The American (33) rolled in a 24-footer at the par-five 18th for his 12th birdie of the day to lead by three shots from overnight leader Ben Kohles.
“I kind of remember thinking on 18 that you have to go for it,” Kim said. “60 or 61 doesn't really make too much of a difference.
“To shoot 59 today was pretty cool and feels like I'm part of the history books, which is great.”
He had just 21 putts in total, gaining 6.5 shots on the greens.
“I wasn't even sure if I was going to play this week, to be honest, but I’m happy I came and shot a low score in front of the great fans,” he said.
At the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open, Leona Maguire chiselled out another level par 72 to go into the weekend tied for 11th at Dundonald Links.
But she’s 11 strokes behind Korea’s Jenny Shin, who followed her 66 with a 67 to lead by five shots from Germany’s Esther Henseleit on 11-under
The cut fell at six over, but Lauren Walsh missed out by a shot after a bogey, bogey, birdie finish for a 72 while Anna Foster shot 74 to finish down the field on 14 over.
At the HotelPlanner Tour’s Raiffeisenbank Golf Challenge in the Czech Republic, Royal Dublin’s Max Kennedy, Kilkenny’s Mark Power and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell made the weekend.
Kennedy is tied for sixth on seven under after carding a three-under 68 and just five strokes behind England’s Callum Tarren, who shot 64 to head the field by three shots.
Power birdied three of his last five holes to shoot 68 and make the two-under par cut on the mark alongside Purcell, who birdied three of his last six for a 67.
