Opportunity knocks for Kearney in Munich

Niall Kearney is eager to grasp the opportunity to secure his first European Tour title after opening up a two shot lead going into the weekend at the 2021 BMW International Open.

The Irishman fired rounds of 65 and 68 at Golfclub München Eichenried to get to 11 under par and lead a chasing pack that includes two Ryder Cup hopefuls in World Number 14 Viktor Hovland and eight-time European Tour winner Bernd Wiesberger, who played alongside European Ryder Cup Captain Pádraig Harrington over the first two rounds.

Kearney recorded his first top ten at the Canary Islands Championship last month, and after a trio of missed cuts, the 33 year old is back on form as he makes his BMW International Open debut.

Spaniard Jorge Campillo, Frenchman Adrien Saddier and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura are also amongst the group of players two shots off the lead at nine under par, with South African Shaun Norris and another Spanish native in Pablo Larrazábal one shot further back.

Local hero Martin Kaymer, his fellow Major winner Louis Oosthuizen, and German amateur Matthias Schmid are amongst a group of nine players at seven under par.

Player quotes

Niall Kearney: “I just feel really fresh. I’ve been home the last couple of weeks. Plenty of time to rest, I was travelling quite a bit prior to that, playing. It was great to get home, recharge and get back out. The course is fantastic, it suits my eye – old fashioned avenues and it’s quite tight off the tee. I’ve really enjoyed it.

“It’s a great opportunity. This year has been great for me. I’m getting lots of starts in nice tournaments. I’ve got to try and take the opportunities as well. I got off to a decent start in Spain in the Canaries, I just need to march on from there.”

Viktor Hovland: “It’s still a little wet out there but the course is holding up great. Even playing in the afternoon the greens are still really great, you can make a lot of putts, which I did today. I made some great putts out there.

“The biggest difference today was that I was able to not hit it in the water. I made some bogeys here and there, but at least they came from poor shots, a poor chip and a putt instead of hitting one in the water and taking a penalty shot. Just play pretty solid, hit a bunch of greens and hopefully I can keep putting well.”

Bernd Wiesberger: “Little spells of giving away shots today at the end and in the middle of the round yesterday, which I felt was unnecessary. I was kind of in control, I didn’t feel like I was shooting on all cylinders.

“I’ve played plenty with him (Pádraig Harrington). He’s very competitive and tries his hardest out there, even though he wasn’t quite on it this week. At the end of the day we’re still trying to compete out here, he has his stuff figured out off the golf course and results will hopefully determine who will be on his team. It was a pleasure playing with him. A lot to take from his demeanor out on the course.”

Martin Kaymer: “After nine holes I played really good golf. Unfortunately, with the bogey on ten with the three putt, that stopped that run that I had a little bit, but I got it back immediately on the next hole. But I still struggled to get to the hole with the putter, that’s a little bit tricky still for me. At the end of the day, shooting 67 is always a good score.

“If I can continue playing the way I have played, I have put myself into a great position, I just need to get the ball to the hole to make birdies.

“It was hard, coming from the U.S. Open last week where the ball can run away from you. I don’t want to say you putt conservative, but you are a little careful about your putting. This week you have to be aggressive, and I struggled. Once you start hitting the ball instead of stroking it it’s easy to hit poor putts – you pull them you push them. I just need to create a little more feel over the next few days.”

Round two scores

133 N KEARNEY (IRL) 65 68,
135 B WIESBERGER (AUT) 67 68, M KAWAMURA (JPN) 65 70, A SADDIER (FRA) 66 69, V HOVLAND (NOR) 68 67, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 67 68,
136 P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 66 70, S NORRIS (RSA) 67 69,
137 A SULLIVAN (ENG) 68 69, L OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) 70 67, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 64 73, A QUIROS (ESP) 70 67, C HILL (SCO) 69 68, M SCHMID (AM) (GER) 68 69, M KAYMER (GER) 70 67, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 68 69, M JORDAN (ENG) 67 70,
138 V NORRMAN (SWE) 69 69, G PORTEOUS (ENG) 67 71, J RITCHIE (RSA) 66 72, V DUBUISSON (FRA) 69 69, S CROCKER (USA) 71 67, J WALTERS (RSA) 72 66, S KIM (USA) 70 68, J HARDING (RSA) 69 69, D FICHARDT (RSA) 67 71,
139 T KANAYA (JPN) 72 67, M WARREN (SCO) 68 71, M ANTCLIFF (AUS) 70 69, N ELVIRA (ESP) 69 70, N H?JGAARD (DEN) 70 69, M LEE (AUS) 66 73,
140 L DE JAGER (RSA) 72 68, A ROMERO (ARG) 72 68, D LAW (SCO) 69 71, D GAVINS (ENG) 69 71, W ORMSBY (AUS) 65 75, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 70 70, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 71 69, J GEARY (NZL) 69 71, A CA?IZARES (ESP) 69 71,
141 S HORSFIELD (ENG) 64 77, T PIETERS (BEL) 73 68, D VAN TONDER (RSA) 70 71, B POKE (DEN) 72 69, D HORSEY (ENG) 71 70, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 73 68, W BESSELING (NED) 72 69, K BROBERG (SWE) 70 71, J GUERRIER (FRA) 69 72, M BALDWIN (ENG) 68 73, J KRUYSWIJK (RSA) 69 72, M SCHWAB (AUT) 71 70, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 66 75, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 68 73, S HEND (AUS) 73 68,
142 M SCHNEIDER (GER) 69 73, D BURMESTER (RSA) 71 71, J WINTHER (DEN) 74 68, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 70 72, F SCHOTT (GER) 73 69, N VON DELLINGSHAUSEN (GER) 72 70, D HOWELL (ENG) 74 68, J MORRISON (ENG) 73 69, S BROWN (ENG) 72 70, Z LOMBARD (RSA) 69 73, A ROZNER (FRA) 76 66, S GARCIA (ESP) 73 69, T OLESEN (DEN) 69 73, G FORREST (SCO) 69 73, R MANSELL (ENG) 74 68, D VAN DRIEL (NED) 71 71, C PIGEM (ESP) 74 68, P MEJOW (GER) 71 71, D WHITNELL (ENG) 69 73, R FOX (NZL) 70 72, L GAGLI (ITA) 71 71,
143 Z BAUCHOU (USA) 71 72, B EASTON (RSA) 73 70, K KITAYAMA (USA) 71 72, P HARRINGTON (IRL) 72 71, E MOLINARI (ITA) 73 70, S JAMIESON (SCO) 69 74, T ROSENM?LLER (GER) 72 71, R MCEVOY (ENG) 74 69, C SYME (SCO) 69 74, C WOOD (ENG) 74 69, J VEERMAN (USA) 72 71, C SORDET (FRA) 69 74, O FARR (WAL) 71 72,
144 L VAN MEIJEL (NED) 69 75, M PAVON (FRA) 74 70, S SODERBERG (SWE) 73 71, R PARATORE (ITA) 69 75, J CATLIN (USA) 73 71, G HAVRET (FRA) 73 71, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 69 75, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 69 75, O LIESER (CZE) 71 73, D PAPADATOS (AUS) 67 77, J DONALDSON (WAL) 72 72,
145 R ENOCH (WAL) 72 73, R JACQUELIN (FRA) 71 74, R SCIOT-SIEGRIST (FRA) 73 72, R KARLBERG (SWE) 76 69, R SANTOS (POR) 72 73, J CALDWELL (NIR) 70 75, A CHESTERS (ENG) 71 74, N LEMKE (SWE) 73 72, ? ZACH (CZE) 70 75, A COCKERILL (CAN) 70 75,
146 D YOUNG (SCO) 72 74, T AIKEN (RSA) 74 72, A LEVY (FRA) 72 74, F LAPORTA (ITA) 73 73, P DUNNE (IRL) 73 73, N BERTASIO (ITA) 69 77, J HANSEN (DEN) 71 75, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 69 77, R FISHER (ENG) 68 78, T KOIVISTO (USA) 73 73,
147 Y CHANG (KOR) 74 73, B STONE (RSA) 72 75, L JOHNSTON (SCO) 73 74, D LAWSON (AUS) 75 72, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 72 75, B EVANS (ENG) 75 72, S GALLACHER (SCO) 74 73,
148 E FERGUSON (SCO) 73 75, P HANSON (SWE) 73 75, T PULKKANEN (FIN) 75 73, J SENIOR (ENG) 70 78,
149 M SCHMITT (GER) 69 80, B STABEN (GER) 75 74, G STORM (ENG) 73 76, O FISHER (ENG) 76 73,
150 M KIEFFER (GER) 75 75, J STALTER (FRA) 72 78, H LEON (CHI) 74 76, A CEJKA (GER) 70 80,
151 J MCLEOD (AUS) 74 77, E SMYLIE (AUS) 76 75,
152 J SURI (USA) 81 71, J GONNET (FRA) 75 77, S JAEGER (GER) 75 77, R MCGOWAN (ENG) 72 80,
153 A BJ?RK (SWE) 80 73,
154 B RITTHAMMER (GER) 78 76,
156 G BHULLAR (IND) 77 79,
157 J KASKE (FIN) 69 88,
160 G GREEN (MAS) 79 81,
161 P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 80 81,
**
OUT A PAVAN (ITA) 75 DQ, S HEISELE (GER) 76 WD, P ANGLES (ESP) 79 WD, H PORTEOUS (RSA) 74 RT,