A gripping final day of play is in store at Fota Island Resort in Cork as three golfers share a one-shot lead ahead of the concluding round of the Audi Cork Irish Masters.
Rita Batibasaga, Stuart Manley and Elliot Saltman are all four under par after 36 holes of the seventh event of the 888poker.com PGA EuroPro Tour season.
Five players are just one shot behind the leaders, setting up an exciting final round on Friday -
Rita Batibasaga (Indoorphilly GC) made birdie six times in his second round but was pegged back by four bogeys. Starting at the 10th tee he picked up back-to-back birdies at his opening two holes before bogeying the 12th.
Three successive birdies from the 16th saw him move up the leaderboard and a birdie four at the fifth further improved his score. However, he concluded his round with three consecutive bogeys and signed a two-under-par 69, equalling his first round to moving to four under for the tournament.
Stuart Manley (Machynys Peninsula) carded a five-under-par second round of 66 with the help of an eagle three at the fourth. He had been one above par overnight but that eagle and three birdies saw him finish day two with a share of the lead.
Elliot Saltman, who qualified for this year’s Open Championship earlier in the week, started at the 10th and made four birdies on his front nine. He added to that with a four at the par-five fourth but bogeyed the seventh to sign for a 67.
Portstewart’s Paul Cutler is among the five golfers tied for fourth, one shot off the lead. His round didn’t get off to the best start when he double bogeyed the second but an eagle at the 10th pulled those dropped shots back and he added two birdies to his card at 12 and 18, and despite a bogey at the 13th he signed for 70.
Duncan Stewart (Grantown on Spey), Zane Scotland (Woodcote Park GC/Princes GC), Dan Seymour (Newbury Golf Centre) and Darryn Lloyd (Acrabuild Ltd/W.Ash & Sons) are also just one shot off the leading trio.
Overnight leader Michael Collins (Mallow Golf Range) shot a second-round 74 and is three shots off the pace.
Ahead of Friday’s final round a cut of the top 50 and ties has been made. Golfers with a total score of four over par or better will play another 18 holes to determine the winner.
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