Caldwell in position to pounce at Celtic Manor

JONATHAN Caldwell is the leading Northern Irishman heading into the weekend at the Celtic Classic on the European Tour, just three shots off the lead at the halfway stage.

The Clandeboye man backed up a three-under 68 at Celtic Manor in Newport on Thursday with an even better bogey-free five-under 66 yesterday to leave him eight under par for the tournament and in a tie for sixth.

England’s Sam Horsfield leads the way after 36 holes at 11 under par after a brilliant seven-under 64 in his second round which, incredibly, featured a triple bogey at the par-three 17 th.

In fact, Horsfield’s finish was nothing short of bizarre, the Hero Open champion sinking back-to-back birdies at the 15th and 16th before that horrendous triple at 17, only to finish with an eagle at the par-five 18th.

The 24-year-old holds a oneshot lead over first-round leader Thomas Pieters, with Thomas Detry, Andrew Johnston and Callum Shinkwin all at nine under.

Ardglass’ Cormac Sharvin also fired himself into the mix as he got to four under par with a bogey-free 67 to move onto four under for the tournament, just seven shots back.

It’s been a welcome return to form for Caldwell (right), who has missed the cut in the last two events he’s played, but looked more like himself in his flawless round, which featured five birdies, including on his final hole.

At the Ladies Scottish Open, Slieve Russell’s Leona Maguire is seven shots adrift of leaders Stacey Lewis (USA) and Azahara Munoz (Spain) after two rounds following a second consecutive one-over-par 71 at The Renaissance Club.

The Cavan girl, who had to finish the final four holes of her first round yesterday morning after Thursday’s play was suspended due to poor light, mixed two birdies with three bogeys to sit at two over par overall and she can now look up the leaderboard going into the weekend in North Berwick.

Locally, it was a very mixed day for Belvoir Park’s Darcy Hogg at the Ulster Under-16 Boys Open as he won the Under-15s prize but had the agony of missing out on the overall victory on countback.

Hogg — who finished seventh at the Irish Boys earlier in the week — finished tied on level par with Alex King (Faithlegg) and James Walsh (Kinsale), but it was King who would prevail after playing his final three holes in one under, compared to Hogg’s level and Walsh’s one over.

The Under-15s trophy was consolation for Hogg though, with Michael Wilson (Massereene) claiming the nett prize.

Hogg will also be among the hopefuls teeing it up today at the first event on the Bridgestone Order of Merit as Ireland’s leading amateurs gather for the Mullingar Scratch Trophy.

It will be a star-studded field that includes Amateur champion James Sugrue and Walker Cup team-mate Caolan Rafferty, however reigning Order of Merit champion Robert Brazill is out due to Covid-19 restrictions.

The first two rounds are today, with the top-39 and ties making the final two rounds tomorrow.