Englishman Todd Clements holds a one-shot lead after the weather-delayed second round of the ISPS Handa World Invitational Men | Women, Presented by Modest! Golf Management, with Stephanie Meadow and Manon De Roey leading the way in the women’s section of the innovative tournament.
In a race to finish his round before nightfall, Clements posted four birdies in his opening nine holes at Galgorm Castle Golf Club before defying the challenging scoring conditions to come back in level par and secure his place at the top of the leaderboard for the first time in his career on seven under par.
Despite bogeying his final hole, the 22-year-old will begin his third round at Galgorm Castle with a narrow advantage over four players including Scotland’s Calum Hill, Spaniard Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez, Englishman Laurie Canter and Francesco Laporta, from Italy, who sit one shot back on six under par.
“I’ve played great over the last couple of days,'' he said. ''The putts have been dropping and it’s the first time I’ve been out in the lead over the weekend so it’s a new experience and I’m just going to learn.
“It’s been tricky with the weather, as everyone knows. With the suspensions you’ve just got to stay patient and it’s a mental battle more than anything else for me. It’s wet, it’s soft and it plays to my strengths, which is great.
“It was a bit of a rush at the end to get in before it got too dark. I had a six-footer for par on the last and it horseshoed on me; will I regret that over the weekend? Who knows.''
With ten millimetres of rain falling on the two co-hosting venues, Galgorm Castle and Massereene Golf Club, overnight and howling wind making for tough conditions, local star Meadow demonstrated why she is touted as one of Europe’s best talents with a two under par round of 70, as she jumped ahead of overnight leader Ellie Givens into a share of the top spot at the halfway stage on four under par.
''I can’t tell you how much it means for all these people to come out and watch me,'' Meadow said. ''I make a putt and there’s lots of claps and lots of hugs at the end and just genuine joy from people to see me out here competing. It doesn’t matter if I win or don’t win they’re behind me so it’s very special and I’m very touched.”
The Northern Irish player is joined at the summit of the leaderboard by De Roey, who added a one under par 71 to her opening round of 70 for a four under par aggregate total, as she looks to add to the LET Access Tour title she clinched in July.
The pair are one shot clear of a seven-strong chasing pack which includes former World Number One amateur Leona Maguire, first round leader Givens and English golfing legend Trish Johnson.
It was another day to remember for the Irish amateurs in the field, with Lauren Walsh carding a one under par round of 72 at Galgorm Castle to head into the weekend of her first professional event just one shot off the lead.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Josh Hill showed plenty of guts as he fired a three under par 67 at Massereene Golf Club to sit in a share of 11th place and ensure he will contest the weekend at his home club alongside the stars of the European Challenge Tour.
