McElroy maintains strong position after round two at UAE Challenge

Dermot McElroy, Conor Purcell, and Gary Hurley are set for an exciting weekend of golf action at the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club, with McElroy just four shots back at the halfway mark.

McElroy, who opened with a solid 69, improved on day two with a one-under front nine, finishing strongly with three birdies in his last six holes to move to -7 and tied for fifth place, just four shots off the lead.

Purcell, on the other hand, looked poised to challenge McElroy after three birdies in four holes on the back nine, but a costly double-bogey at the eighth saw him finish at -4 overall and tied for 21st.

Hurley faced an uphill battle after a run of bogeys, but he turned things around with a strong finish, posting -2 to safely make it through to the weekend in a tie for 42nd.

Unfortunately, John Murphy missed the cut by the minimum, despite birdieing the 18th hole. Mark Power, Jonathan Caldwell, and Ronan Mullarney also failed to make an impact in the early stages of their Challenge Tour careers.

Joshua Berry will lead the pack into the weekend with a two-stroke lead after a stellar four-under-par round of 68 on day two. The Englishman fired seven birdies in his first 11 holes to finish at 11 under par, two shots ahead of Wilco Nienaber and Hamish Brown.

Berry, who turned professional just six months ago, expressed his delight with his performance over the first two days and aims to continue his solid play into the weekend.

Frenchman Alexander Levy sits in fourth place on eight under par, while Benjamin Rusch, Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, and Dermot McElroy share fifth place on seven under par.

The third round is set to kick off at 7:30 am local time, with Berry teeing off alongside Nienaber and Brown at 9:30 am. Stay tuned for more exciting golf action at the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club.