More Joy for Luke

Luke Joy will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the HotelPlanner.com Championship after carding a second round 68 at Cumberwell Park.

The Dorset golfer is 11-under-par with Nick McCarthy and Marcus Armitage at nine under.

Seven golfers are tied fourth on eight under including Dave Thomas, who shot the day’s best round – an eight-under-par 63 on the par-71 Red and Yellow Course.

Joy (Broadstone Golf Club) began the day one ahead of the field after opening with a 63 on Wednesday. His second round began on the tenth tee and he got off to a promising start with birdies at 11 and 12. He broke par again at the first to sign for an unblemished second-round 68.

“I played very solidly again today,” he said. “It wasn’t the fireworks with the putter I had in the first round but overall I was happy with the day’s work. The weather was very pleasant again and the course is in great shape.

“I am looking forward to the challenge ahead of me tomorrow. I will go out to have fun, see how low I can post and then see if it is enough to win.”

McCarthy (Moortown Golf Club) was four behind Joy at the start of the day but a second-round 66 saw him move to within two of the leader. Armitage (Howley Hall Golf Club) was a winner on the Tour at Concra Wood last year and shot a six-under 65 to join McCarthy.

Some of Europe’s best young golfers are in action in the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour event, and the final round will be filmed for a two-hour highlights package to be aired on Sky Sports on July 1.

A cut to the leading 50 players and ties has now been made, with the 67 players whose 36-hole scores are two under par or better proceeding to play the final round on Friday. Spectator entry is free and live scoring can be found at www.europrotour.com