BY CAOMH BREEN ALLEN
Patrick Curran followed his impressive opening round 66 on Tuesday with a superb second round 65 on Wednesday, giving the National College of Ireland student a sizeable lead heading into the final round of the Irish Intervarsity Championship at Kirkistown Castle.
The Edmondstown golfer will be looking to secure his second title in as many months after claiming a four-shot victory at the R&A Student Series at Sweden’s Halmstad Golf Club in September.
Curran began his second round with a three-shot advantage and made another bright start with a birdie at the first, but a bogey at the second followed by back-to-back dropped shots at the seventh and eighth threatened to open the door for his challengers as he made the turn at +1 for the round.
The back nine, however, was where Curran found his stride. Birdies on the par five 10th and par three 11th were followed by two more birdies on 15 and 17 before he closed with his second eagle of the week at the 18th.
The 20-year-old signed for a five-under-par round of 65 and a nine-under total, putting him eight shots clear at the top of the leaderboard.
Behind him, Maynooth University’s Cian Harkin and Morgan O’Sullivan share second spot on one under, both following their opening level par rounds, with one under rounds of 69.
Maynooth take top spot in the team standings overnight, as Ben Cahill, Lorenzo Fior and Conor Stapleton hold a two-shot advantage over the DCU trio of Robert Burns, Conor McCarthy and Sebastian Broderick heading into the final round.
The top 47 players have made the cut for Thursday’s action, with proceedings set to get underway at 8.15am, while the leading group tee off from 10.50am
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