Irish survive in Open

MICHAEL HOEY and Justin Kehoe were the only surviving Irishmen at the halfway stage of the European Challenge Tour's Tessali-Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata.

Both players completed their second rounds at Riva dei Tessali, with Hoey posting a level par 71 to move to two under in total, while Kehoe carded a second round 70 to join Hoey in a tie for 53rd place.

There is a three-way tie atop the leaderboard between the Swedish duo of Johan Edfors and Steven Jeppesen and South Africa's Michael Kirk.