Álvaro Quirós (-3) is getting the hang of the Irish Challenge. The Andalusian enjoys playing this tournament, or at least that’s what the results suggest. This Friday, he delivered a card of 69 strokes, leaving him just one shot away from the top ten of the tournament and four from the lead held by Matt Sharpestene (-7).
Last year, Álvaro Quirós achieved his second-best classification of the year in this event with a top 25. The venue is different, but the feeling is similar, consolidating the sensations of his great week at the Alps Tour de La Gomera and the cut made last week in Scotland. These are three consecutive cuts, two in the Challenge Tour and another in the Alps. It has been two and a half years since the player from Cádiz played three consecutive weekends, last doing so in February 2023 on the South African leg of the Challenge Tour.
The news for the Spanish Armada this Friday at Kileen Castle has been more fruitful than at the start of the tournament. If at the end of the first 18 holes only two of our players were within the provisional cut, seven will finally compete over the weekend for a coveted prize on Irish soil. None were able to play under par in the first round, but five have done so this Friday.
Adri Arnaus (-2) delivered the same card as Quirós to enter the top 20 of the event. The other three who played under par were Lucas Vacarisas (-2), who is tied with Arnaus, Luis Masaveu (-1) and Javier Calles (PAR) with three cards of 70 strokes. Joining them in the cut are Rocco Repetto Taylor and Borja Virto, who are tied at +1 and have just made it past the cut.
It will be especially interesting for Vacarisas, Virto, and Masaveu, as a good weekend could place them among the top 45 of the year with a spot in the Final in Mallorca. A good moving day could leave any of those who made the cut with options for everything. The gap between the leader and the cut is eight strokes.
Not all news was good in this second round. Eight Spaniards have bowed out early and will not earn points in the Race: Alejandro Aguilera (+2), Joseba Torres (+3), Carlos Pigem (+3), Javi Sainz (+4), Eduard Roussaud (+5), Javier Barcos (+7), Álvaro Hernández Cabezuela (+7) and Quim Vidal (+7).
