Mark Staunton of FORE Ireland completed round two in level par to remain 4 under at the PGA Irish Club Pro at Dundalk Golf Club on Thursday after signing for a 72 to win the event by one shot from Glen Robinson of St. Helens Bay and Robert Giles of Greenore in third place on 2 under.
The victory pushed Staunton to 3rd place in the LEXUS RACE TO MOUNT JULIET 2010 ORDER OF MERIT and one place behind David Mortimer with Eamon Brady of Clontarf leading.
David Mortimer (72, 71) and Michael Collins (75, 68) of FORE Ireland were in a share of fourth with John Dolan of Ballyliffin. Collins carded an eagle on the 10th with a total of five birdies and three bogeys get the one of the best scores of the day.
Philip Walton signed for a 74, still unhappy with his form around the greens, to end the event on four over
Ted Higgins Jnr finished round two in one over par to finish on +11 after an 82 on day one.
Kevin Dorrian of Scrabo Golf Club matched his 74 on day one with and 81 on Thursday to also finish on +11.
2009 Order of Merit winner David Higgins of Waterville finished on 6 over for the tournament.
Brendan McGovern of Headfort Golf retired.
Mark Staunton reflects on event:
“Things are looking up. Another win for foreIreland.com, but only just!”
“After Wednesday's round of 68 on a tricky day, it was always going to be hard to follow it up with one as good. And that turned out to be true. After a good par save on the first and a tap in birdie on the second, I thought it was going to be plain sailing. However I'd forgotten how it feels to be in contention and the nerves nearly got the better of me.”
“I was steady enough for nine holes and turned one under. It got a little messy from there in. A few missed putts and ropey tee shots meant I was one over with three to go, and only for a birdie on seventeen it could have slipped away. The hard work of Wednesday was just enough to ensure the cup would have foreIreland on it!”
“Mixed emotions again this week. I was disappointed that today's golf wasn't as good as it should be, but obviously delighted at the quality of the first round and another win for the season.”
Mick Collins reviews round:
"Yesterday was an important day for me as I was starting to get a bit frustrated by my lack of consistency and it came more by accident than anything else."
"I was rooming with Michael Mulryan and he had left his video camera in my car. We were out at different sides of the draw and I was on the range warming up when he came in. I still wasn’t happy with how I was hitting it so he said he would put it on the camera. I was slightly surprised as the swing looked pretty good and one change in my follow-through gave me that good feeling that I had earlier in the season."
"I hit the ball really well and an eagle and 4 birdies against just 2 bogeys (over-hit both greens) resulted in 68 and catapulted me up the leaderboard from nowhere to 1 under par for the tournament and joint 4th position beside my foreireland team mate Dave Mortimer."
"However, the man of the moment was Stan as he started the day in the lead and stayed there to take victory, something which is not easy to do. He is in a good vein of form at the moment and is making hay which you have to do when the chances present themselves."
"There is definitely a strong but healthy competition between the foreireland team at the moment with the level of results being churned out and with Philip and Ted coming back from injury, it is only going to get better as we are all pushing harder to keep the standards up."
