FOR A while it was like the good old days, not that Philip Walton is quite in his dotage. Indeed, as he proved in the second round of the North West of Ireland Open over the Glashedy links at Ballyliffin yesterday, the 40-year-old former Ryder Cup hero still wields a mean blade.
A two-under-par 70 - he is one over for the tournament - was probably the worst score that he could have amassed given the quality of his play.
His efforts were all the more laudable given his start. A bogey at the second was followed by a double bogey at the third, and at that juncture he was six over for the tournament.
His transformation in fortune was inspired by "a good chat that I had with myself. I hit a bad tee-shot on three, got a bad lie, tried to get it out sideways and failed. From there on in I played well, made some good putts."
There-in lies a touch of understatement, as the Malahide man cobbled together seven birdies in the remaining 15 holes, dropping just a further two shots in the process.
He was also left to rue what might have been on the 13th when he almost holed his chip for an eagle three. To his chagrin, he missed the six-foot birdie putt, striking it a little too firmly. So what mindset will he take into the weekend as he seeks to improve upon his best finish to date this season of tied ninth at the Madeira Open?
"I'll give it a rip. I need a good stiff breeze here for the weekend to make it interesting."
Yesterday's positively balmy conditions are set to give way to a howling gale today, exacerbated by rain. He is five shots adrift of the leader, Italy's Costantino Rocca, who won the inaugural staging of this event at Galway Bay in 1999.
Rocca, who famously beat Tiger Woods in a Ryder Cup singles, shot a 69 to be four under at the half-way stage.
"I didn't putt very well today and missed quite a few chances," he said. "I won't think about the weekend, just about the way I am swinging now. I will try and keep my rhythm and make more birdies."
The round of the day belonged to Andrew Coltart, who set a course record with a six under the card 66. The Scot, ominously for his rivals, is now just two shots off the pace.
"I played well and didn't do anything wrong really. I felt I had to roll forward to try to gain an advantage regarding the next round because I gather it (the weather) is going to be rubbish all day.
"I would rather be playing in the rubbish when I at least had a chance to warm-up, rather than first thing in the morning."
Coltart's blemish-free round included six birdies; his longest putt was an 18-footer.
Rocca is one shot clear of fellow Italian Massimo Florioli and two clear of Coltart and Frenchman Jean Francois Lucquin. The latter shot a 67, a tremendous effort when one considers that it was only his second competitive round on a links course.
For the second day in succession, Wexford's Damien McGrane produced some excellent golf, adding a 73 to join Walton at one over for the tournament. His efforts were all the more laudable considering he lost the ball on his 16th hole.
Starting on the 10th, Dunfanaghy's Ciaran McMonagle turned in three over, but produced four birdies in succession - he dropped one further shot - for an slightly unorthodox level par 72 and two over total of 146.
The other Irish players to make the cut were Michael Hoey, local professional Francis Howley, John Dwyer and Gary Murphy.
LEADING SECOND ROUND SCORES
(Brit unless stated, Irish in bold)
140 C Rocca (Ita) 71 69 141 M Florioli (Ita) 71 70 142 J-F Lucquin (Fra) 75 67, A Coltart 76 66 143 A Hogh (Den) 71 72, JM Arruti (Spa) 71 72 144 A Mednick (Swe) 76 68, M Sanders 72 72, A Forsbrand (Swe) 71 73 145 P Magnebrant (Swe) 72 73, P Nyman (Swe) 76 69, D McGrane 72 73, P Walton 75 70, A Crawford (Aus) 77 68 146 M Reale (Ita) 78 68, N Colsaerts (Bel) 75 71, O Edmond (Fra) 77 69, I Pyman 76 70, C McMonagle 74 72, A Oldcorn 77 69, L S James 75 71, S Khan 74 72 147 T Moore (Rsa) 73 74, D Park 75 72, D Lucas 76 71, M Bernardini (Ita) 76 71, E Little 74 73, M Welch 74 73, D De Vooght (Bel) 78 69, M Knight (Swi) 77 70, J Rask (Swe) 75 72, J Kingston (Rsa) 77 70 148 C Suneson (Spa) 76 72, P Broadhurst 76 72, F Howley 75 73, T Schuster (Ger) 79 69, A Bossert (Swi) 76 72, M Hoey 77 71, A Renard (Den) 77 71, R Dinsdale 77 71 149 K Baraka (Ger) 78 71, M Archer 78 71, K Svensson (Swe) 76 73, K Storgaard (Den) 76 73, K Brink (Swe) 78 71, T J Munoz (Spa) 76 73 150 S Bebb 78 72, S Gardiner (Aus) 76 74, A Butterfield 81 69, O Bergman (Swe) 80 70, J Dwyer 75 75, G Hamerton 75 75, I Hutchings (Rsa) 78 72, G Fox 81 69, A McLean 78 72, D Geall 81 69, J Hepworth 76 74, L Claverie (Spa) 76 74, F Henge (Swe) 75 75, A Sherborne 78 72, B Barham 74 76, S Hurd 79 71, S Little 76 74, R Gustave (St Lucia) 79 71, F Guermani (Ita) 80 70, R Sterne (Rsa) 77 73, G Baruffaldi (Ita) 81 69, M Nilsson (Swe) 80 70 151 J Little 77 74, J Gronhagen (Swe) 78 73, M Pendaries (Fra) 79 72, I Giner (Spa) 78 73, S Reale (Ita) 81 70, G Van Der Valk (Ned) 78 73, R Sjoberg (Swe) 79 72, F Widmark (Swe) 75 76, D Patrick 75 76, G Murphy 78 73, G Rojas (Arg) 79 72, B Vaughan (Rsa) 77 74, T Norret (Den) 79 72, T Besancenez (Fra) 77 74, N Kraiij (Ned) 72 79, F Bisazza (Ita) 76 75, D Dixon 78 73, V Phillips 83 68, A Ljunggren (Swe) 79 72, H Walters (Rsa) 77 74.
ÎRISH MISSED CUT: 152 S Browne 77 75, 153 J Dignam 78 75, P Gribben 79 74, 160 P Lawrie 86 74, C Mallon 86 74.
