GAVIN MOYNIHAN HAS put himself in an excellent position heading into the weekend at the French Open as he bids to retain his European Tour card — but the Irishman endured agony on Friday as he came within inches of a hole-in-one.
Moynihan, currently 162nd in the Race to Dubai and requiring a strong finish to the season to haul himself inside the top 117, saw his approach at the par-three 16th hit the cup and bounce out.
The Dubliner would two-putt for par and eventually sign for a second-round 69 to sit in a tie for seventh heading into the weekend, but the near-miss on 16 cost him a BMW i8 sports car worth €150,000.
It was, however, another good day for Moynihan as he battles to keep his full playing rights for 2020, as he sits four shots off the lead held by Nicolas Colsaerts at the halfway stage at Le Golf National in Paris.
The European Tour / Twitter
The European Tour / Twitter / Twitter
Colsaerts took a share of the lead on Friday with South African George Coetzee, despite finding the water on the final hole of his second round.
The 2012 Ryder Cup winner, who has since slipped to 424th in the world rankings, fired a five-under-par 66 and moved to nine-under for the tournament.
Colsaerts and Coetzee are one shot clear of American Kurt Kitayama.
A run of five birdies in six holes from the start of the back nine helped Colsaerts briefly move into a two-stroke advantage, and although he struck his tee shot at the perilous 18th into the water, he recovered with an excellent approach to limit the damage to a bogey.
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Hopefully he can continue where he left off last season. In fairness he’s been a much better player for us than any of his previous clubs – that’s the Bielsa effect for you.
If Southgate is not going to put him on the squad can we take him at least he be guaranteed international football and he can score goals. Win win situation.
@robert o mahony: he doesn’t want us though, bit of a stumbling block
@Shimmy Shammy: He is waiting it out but only so much you can wait for. I think if he isn’t in September squad for England. Then you can surely persuade him. Because you don’t want to be nearing 30 and regret it that he could of played more international games. Unless he can play with another country other than Ireland and England
Future Ireland International for sure.
He clearly feels English so why would he want to play for us? We don’t need jokers like that.