Lucas Herbert will take a two shot lead into the weekend at Mount Juliet Estate after a stunning run of scoring around the turn sent him back to the top of the leaderboard on day two of the 2021 Dubai Duty Free Irish Open.
The Australian had taken advantage of the low winds and fresh greens early on day one to post a 64 but soon found himself three behind going out in the afternoon during round two.
He then picked up five shots in six holes from the eighth en route to a 67 that left him at 13-under.
Scot Grant Forrest and England’s Andy Sullivan were the nearest challengers, a shot clear of another Englishman in Dale Whitnell.
Herbert claimed his maiden European Tour win at last season’s Omega Dubai Desert Classic and also secured a top ten at this event, having made the cut on his debut in 2019.
After a quiet spell, he recently scored two top 20s on the US PGA Tour and was pleased with his battling display in County Kilkenny.
“It was a little frustrating but I also felt like I did pretty well to scrap 67 out of that,” he said. “I holed some really nice putts and then missed some where I probably thought that was a good chance to make.
“The double on three didn’t help as well so for a round that hopefully is not one of the better ones of the week, I felt like I did really well to get a lot out of it and put myself into a very good position going into the weekend.
“I think it’s definitely something that comes with a win where you know you’ve proved to yourself that you can win, you can hit shots under pressure and actually win. So I’ll be taking a lot of experience from that into the weekend and try and draw on that confidence as well.”
Herbert birdied the first but then found the water on the third to surrender a double-bogey and found himself three back.
A two putt on the fifth and up-and-down on the eighth saw him take advantage of the two par fives on the front nine and a smart pitch on the ninth meant he was back in a share at the turn.
An up-and-down from the sand on the tenth edged him in front and he then hit an excellent approach into the 12th and holed a 20 footer on the next to lead by three and make it five birdies in six holes.
He missed the green on the par three 14th for a bogey but two putts from 80 feet on the 17th handed him the shot back.
Sullivan started birdie birdie and then eagled the fifth thanks to a stunner to eight feet but made a bogey on the seventh after finding bushes off the tee.
An up-and-down from the sand on the tenth was followed by a birdie on the 13th but he gave the shot back on the next before holing a long putt on the 16th and making the most of the 17th despite a poor tee shot for a 66.
Forrest made the most of the tenth and 17th while also birdieing the 13th and first before an eagle on the fifth from 13 feet catapulted him into double figures. He then took himself to five-under for the day on the par fives on the eighth in a 67 to join Sullivan two shots off the lead.
In the morning, Whitnell had birdied the first but gave the shot straight back before holing a 25 footer on the sixth and putting a beautiful pitch to six feet on the eighth to turn in 34.
He holed a 30 footer on the tenth for an eagle to share the lead and he stayed at the top of the leaderboard with another lengthy putt on the next.
A plugged lie on the 15th saw him surrender a bogey but he holed a 12 footer from the fringe on the next to set the target after a 67.
South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout, England’s Richard Bland, Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and American Johannes Veerman were at nine-under, a shot clear of a group of eight players.
Defending champion John Catlin was at seven under, two shots clear of home favourite Shane Lowry and four time Major champion Rory McIlroy.
