Irish contingent hitting a hot streak in Spain

THERE is a delightfully green hue to the leaderboard at the halfway stage of the Andalucia Masters at Valderrama, with the final match in today’s third round involving Ireland’s Graeme McDowell and Gareth Maybin.

While McDowell is now a familiar figure after his famous victory in the US Open Championship, his win in the Wales Open and his exploits in the Ryder Cup, Maybin is a relative unknown.

McDowell carries a two shot lead into the weekend, standing seven under for the 36 holes and 11 clear of playing partner Martin Kaymer, who barely scraped into the weekend activities on four over.