Conor Purcell has taken a commanding three-stroke lead into the weekend of the Black Desert NI Open, presented by Tom McKibbin, after delivering an impressive performance for the second consecutive day at Galgorm.
The Irish golfer fired a flawless five-under-par round of 65 in challenging conditions, putting him at nine under par for the week.
He leads by three strokes over Dane Jeppe Kristian Andersen, Swede Joakim Lagergren, and the Netherlands’ Wil Besseling, who share second place.
The 27-year-old Purcell’s accuracy off the tee was particularly rewarding amid the wind and rain that swept through County Antrim.
Reflecting on his round, he said, “I’m very pleased. Any time you can go bogey-free it’s very nice, and especially round here. It’s quite demanding, so I did a good job.”
Purcell credited his caddie for their collaborative effort in navigating the tricky conditions. “Me and my caddie did a great job.
There were a lot of tricky wind conditions, a lot of crosswinds, but we were hitting good shots.
I kept myself in position off the tee, and I think it didn’t feel as difficult as it probably should’ve because of that.”
Purcell has had a strong first half of the Road to Mallorca season, with three top-ten finishes in 13 starts, placing him 24th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
With the top 20 earning promotion to the DP World Tour at the end of the year, Purcell is eager to stay in contention for his first Challenge Tour title.
“Any time you’re up there, it gives you that extra motivation to keep it going for four days,” he added. “I’ve been playing nicely this year, so hopefully there’s more of the same tomorrow.”
Despite missing the cut last week, Purcell remained optimistic. “I made sure to tell myself my game wasn’t too far away.
It felt very close, and it’s just about piecing it together for four rounds.
I know golf is well supported up here, and I love playing in front of people, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.”
Pierre Pineau sits solo in fifth place at five under par, while six players are tied for sixth at four under par, including Frenchmen Oihan Guillamoundeguy and Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Dane Lucas Bjerregaard, Englishman Jack Senior, Swede Per Längfors, and Welshman Toby Hunt.
The third round will start at 8:05 AM local time, with Purcell teeing off alongside Andersen and Lagergren at 12:00 PM.
