Irish are lining up to shoot down flying Finn

The Irish Open has not one but three homegrown contenders at Fota Island Resort as Graeme McDowell leads the pursuit of halfway leader Mikko Ilonen.

On a glorious summer’s day in East Cork there was a very warm glow being generated by Irish golfers as the 24,151 crowd were treated to some serious moves up the leaderboard from McDowell, Pádraig Harrington and Gareth Maybin, while the biggest roar of the day came beneath the evening sun as West Waterford amateur Gary Hurley sank a 55-foot putt at his final hole not just to make the cut but move to within six shots of Ilonen’s lead, which stands at 10 under par.

Not every Irishman joined the party, the most notable casualties of the cutline being Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, who each missed by a stroke at one over par. Yet there will be eight survivors teeing off in today’s third round, including Major winners Darren Clarke, Harrington and McDowell, who stands best poised at eight under par to make a bid for Ilonen’s lead and become the first home Irish Open winner since Lowry in 2009.