Staff WriterJoakim Lagergren clearly has a thing for the K Club. The Swede rolled back the years and his putts like they owed him money, carding a jaw-dropping ten-under-par 62 on the Palmer North Course to snatch a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Amgen Irish Open.
Sitting at 12-under, Lagergren has the Frenchman Adrien Saddier breathing down his neck, a mere shot adrift, while Rory McIlroy and a trio of others lurk ominously behind on seven-under. It’s the kind of leaderboard that makes the Guinness taste a little better in Straffan.
Happy hunting ground
Lagergren isn’t exactly a stranger to the K Club. He won the Irish Challenge on the HotelPlanner Tour last season over on the Palmer South and still holds the course record there with a 63. On Friday, he looked as though he might fancy Darren Clarke’s North Course mark of 60 for dessert.
Starting his second round on the 10th, Lagergren birdied three straight holes before cooling off briefly with a string of pars. By the time he eagled the par-five 18th with a right-to-left roller that would’ve made Seve grin, he was out in 31. More birdies on the second, fourth, fifth, and seventh followed, his only blemish a bogey on the eighth—quickly cancelled out with a closing birdie at the ninth.
“I just played really well out there. My putter was obviously really hot. Holed a lot of putts today. Did yesterday as well, but didn’t really have my A-game yesterday. Working with my coach yesterday afternoon and obviously found something,” Lagergren said.
“I shot the course record on the other course, nine under, so I thought I did it on this course too. Obviously 12 under is the course record, way off. Ireland is treating me well.”
Saddier’s special pairing
Behind him, Adrien Saddier rode the wave of Irish nostalgia, paired with Pádraig Harrington and a gallery that might as well have been a Ryder Cup reunion.
“I was lucky enough to be paired with Padraig Harrington, so the crowd was really awesome. Nice atmosphere to play here and just try to have a good game with it. Everything was fine with me. So really happy with this day,” Saddier said.
“I grew up playing golf watching him on TV, watching him in the Ryder Cup here. I just tried to enjoy it. The Irish crowd is one of the best. It was just a pure pleasure today to play here.”
Rory roars back
Then there’s Rory McIlroy, the man who can’t so much as buy a pint in Kildare without starting a queue.
The four-time major champion posted a sparkling 66, and but for a whisper of dimples on his ball at 18, might have walked off with an albatross to bring the house down.
“I felt like I hit the ball pretty similarly to yesterday, maybe gave myself a few more chances with the approach shots. I just didn’t make a bogey, which was nice. A couple of good par saves on the back nine and finished well with a couple of birdies on the last three holes,” McIlroy said.
“Overall, I’m really pleased with the day’s work, and it keeps me within touching distance going into the weekend. Obviously the two boys are a little bit ahead of the rest of the pack, but I feel like I’m close enough, if I do have a good weekend, to chase them down.
“The whole day, even just walking to the range for the warm-up today, the support is absolutely incredible. I’m looking forward to playing in that atmosphere for the next couple days as well.”
Spain’s Alfredo Garcia-Heredia, Kiwi Daniel Hillier, and Denmark’s Thorbjørn Olesen joined McIlroy in that logjam for third, each hoping Lagergren cools off long enough to let them into the mix.
Birdies for Wishes delivers
The Amgen Irish Open isn’t just about birdies and bogeys; it’s also about making a difference. Day two of the Birdies for Wishes campaign saw 87 birdies and 16 eagles on the 18th hole alone, worth a €30,900 donation from Amgen and the DP World Tour. That brings the running total to €56,700.
The three Amgen ambassadors—Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington and Séamus Power—did their part, producing an eagle and eight birdies between them to raise an additional €5,000 for Make-A-Wish Ireland.
