Dodd and Dredge in the frame

World Cup winners Stephen Dodd and Bradley Dredge were back together today. On the leaderboard at the £2.4m (€3.4m) European Open in Dublin.

Others may have lost their cool in the windy conditions – Dutchman Maarten Lafeber threw his putter in a lake when he still had eight holes to play – but the Welsh pair showed the same battling qualities that made them world champions last November.

Neither has won a tournament since, but the K Club’s Smurfit course would be as good a place as any to change that.

It would be worth £400,000 (€577,000), just as their joint success in Portugal was to each of them, and it catapult them into the Ryder Cup reckoning.

Dodd was victorious at last year’s Irish Open, but is down in 90th place on this season’s Order of Merit without a single top 10 finish and was simply delighted to have found some form again.

After adding a 69 to his opening 67 for an eight under par halfway total Dodd was inevitably asked what the problem has been.

“I really don’t know – I’ve been hitting it too many times,” came the reply from the man who broke through into the big-time last season after making no fewer than 10 trips to the European tour qualifying school.

“If we knew the answer to all these problems that we get in our swings and mechanics it would be an easy game.

“You’ve just got to accept that you’re not going to play well all the time. It’s hard to deal with, but I’ve tried to do it.

“It’s a frustrating game and we all want to do well. You’ve got to handle it the best way you can.”

Told of Lafeber’s reaction to three-putting the long 10th for par – he still went on to make the halfway cut using an eight-iron the rest of the way home - Dodd commented: “I’ve not thrown a club into a lake, but we’ve all thrown clubs at times.

“I haven’t done it in a tournament, but I snapped one when practising not long ago. Just pure frustration.

“I feel I’m turning a corner, but I’ve never thought about the Ryder Cup for one minute.”

Dredge, who celebrated his 33rd birthday with an opening 65 on Thursday, extended his bogey-free run to 31 holes and with a birdie on the 15th, his sixth, shared top spot with Dodd with five holes remaining.

One behind after a 68 was Darren Clarke, whose 2001 win in the event came on the Palmer course across the River Liffey where September’s Ryder Cup will be staged.

Clarke, of course, would love to be part of that, but his wife’s cancer battle has put a question mark over his involvement ever since qualifying started last September.

“Heather’s struggling a lot at the minute and even if I was in the team (he is 28th in the standings) I don’t know that I would be able to play in it,” he said.

Paul Casey, seeking a second successive victory that would take him top of the Order of Merit, could add only a 73 to his first day 66, but remains well in the hunt at five under.

So too does Colin Montgomerie, one further back following a 71, and American cup captain Tom Lehman’s 70 lifted him to three under.

However, Padraig Harrington, defending champion Kenneth Ferrie and Lee Westwood were relieved just to make the halfway cut on one over.

Paul McGinley was sweating it out late into the evening to see whether his two over aggregate was good enough, but Paul Broadhurst, one place above him at seventh in the Ryder Cup table, missed out after going in the water at the last.

England’s John Bickerton, currently 10th, and last year’s US Open champion Michael Campbell departed as well after scoring 78 and 75 respectively.

IRISH: Browne -4, McGrane -3, Harrington +1, Higgins +2, McGinley +2, Murphy +4.