Mooney recovers after day one nightmare - 11/03/2007

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DAMIAN Mooney produced one of the recoveries of the season to scrape a place in the final day of the latest PGA EuroPro Tour event.

Northern Ireland's Mooney (pictured right) appeared to be heading for an early exit at the PartyPoker.net English Masters, which is being held at the Whittlebury Park Golf and Country Club in Northamptonshire.

Mooney, 39, who finished second in the 2006 PGA EuroPro Tour of Merit and has competed in six Challenge Tour tournaments this year, hit a shocking opening round of 80 on Wednesday.

That included a triple-bogey at the par-four first and a double-bogey at the par-five 11th as he started the second day in tied 142nd out of 158 players with a tricky task to qualify.

However, it was a different story on Thursday as seven birdies in the opening 14 holes left him on two-over, although he did drop a shot on the 15th to end on three-over.

But it was enough to claim a position in the top 50 by one shot and he will play the final round on Friday, where the eventual winner will pocket £10,000.

Welshman David Price registered a 67 on Thursday after a 70 on Wednesday to sit on five-under and become an early clubhouse leader, although he was later joined on that total by Scot Elliot Saltman.

Graeme Clark has already won two events this season and has a chance for a third success as he is currently in the top ten on four-under.

Other players confident of gaining high finishes include Sean Doherty (Bury), David Callaway (Millford Golf Club) and Martin Le Mesurier, who are all on four-under, while Neil Walker, a winner at Cardrona, Scotland in May, is one of a number of players on three-under.

Adam Lee (St Mellons, Cardiff) crashed out of the tournament despite hitting a hole-in-one on the 163-yard par-three 14th. A poor score of a six-over 77 on Wednesday left him with too much to do on the second day as he finished well down the field.

Date posted: August 24, 2007