A trio of Tour winners – Peter Baker, Jeev Milkha Singh and Mikael Lundberg – are tied for fourth, one further back at -7, after a testing day in Kilkenny.
Despite the tricky conditions at Mount Juliet, the South African once again capitalised on the par-fives. Having made two eagles and a birdie on day one, he birdied all four on Friday in a battling four-under-par round that established a commanding position with 18 holes left to play.
“I’m very happy with my score today, I’ll definitely take a 68,” said Horne. “It was a lot tougher today, the wind was swirling and I really struggled to figure it out. It was with you one second and straight into the next. My game today was pretty much the opposite of yesterday, I really struggled out there but managed to just piece it together. I just tried to stay patient and my putter saved me.
“I also managed to once again take advantage of the par-fives, managed to birdie all of them and that kind of keeps you in it. We can reach all of them comfortably because the fairways are running, so you always feel like you can pick up shots.”
Having won the Zambia Legends in 2024 after building a three-shot lead going into the final round, the South African hopes that a comparable approach on day three in Ireland will yield a similar result.
“It is similar to Zambia as I pushed on early there, although there were a lot more birdies to be had in the early holes,” Horne said. “I’m just looking for a solid start to make sure that I put myself in a solid position going into the back nine tomorrow. It’s really nice to have a lead but if you go out there trying to keep it you’re going to get in trouble. There’s a lot of holes where you can get into trouble, so I’m just going to try and make as many birdies as I can again, get off to a solid start and take it from there.”
In only his second Legends Tour start of the season, 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie followed yesterday’s bogey-free 65 with a dogged three-under-par 69 – a score matched by playing partner Scott Hend who also had an up-and-down round that included five birdies, an eagle and four bogeys. The Australian is tied for second with Lawrie at -8.
“Yesterday was really easy, I didn’t make any mistakes and didn’t make any bogies,” said Lawrie, who has won twice on the Legends Tour. “Today was the opposite really. I struggled off the tee, didn’t drive it well at all today, so three-under when you’re not hitting it that great is a good effort.”
It might have been much worse for the Scot, but for a miraculous par at the difficult par-four 18^th. Having driven into water on what was the most difficult hole statistically on day two, Lawrie knocked his third onto the green and proceeded to hole a lengthy putt for a vital four that booked his place in the last group for the final round.
“I pulled it off the tee on the last, which is the one place you just can’t hit it,” said Lawrie. “That was frustrating because I could probably hit 100 balls off that tee and not hit it there. But of course I did – and that’s golf. But I managed to hole about a 35-footer, which was my longest putt of the week, so it was a nice way to finish.
“I don’t play a lot of competitive golf at the moment so -8 for two rounds around Mount Juliet when you’re not driving it great is a really good effort. I feel competitive this week, which I wasn’t in Aloha at the Marbella Legends. So we’ll see how we go tomorrow. My game’s feeling pretty good. I’d like to drive it a bit better tomorrow and if I can do that, then we’re going to have a wee chance.”
India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who carded the joint-lowest round of the day – a five-under-par 67- is just four off the lead and looking to improve on last year’s T8 finish at the OFX Irish Legends at Seapoint. “Really happy with my game – I hit a lot of greens and holed a lot of putts,” said the four-time DP World Tour winner.
“Overall I just managed myself really well and that’s what you need on this golf course. It was tougher today, with the wind making club selection difficult. Tomorrow’s game plan is to just go out there, take it shot-by-shot, stick to my routine, play the best I can and see what comes my way.”
