Thacker in pole position at Concra Wood

George Thacker (above) shot a superb seven-under-par 65 of the Kingspan Concra Wood Open to take a one-shot lead into the third and final round of the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour event in Castleblayney, Ireland.

The Englishman sits on 10-under-par after 36 holes, with Steve Uzzell second on nine-under after rounds of 66 and 69 on the par-72 course.

Northern Ireland’s Richard Kilpatrick and England’s James Robinson share third on six-under, four behind the leader in the event, which carries a £40,000 prize fund with £10,000 for the winner.

Thacker (Kedleston Park) began his second round on the 10th tee and was three-under at the turn. He made an eagle at the first and then birdied seven and eight to sign for a 65, the best round of the day by four strokes.

Uzzell (Hornsea Golf Club) had led overnight and was pleased with his 69 despite bogeys at the fourth, ninth and 11th.

“It was very tricky this afternoon,” he said. “The wind was up and the greens have seen most of the field play them. The flags are a bit trickier today as well, so it is a bit more of a battle to get it round.

“I will go out tomorrow and see how I get on. I will just think about going and playing golf again tomorrow. If George goes and shoots seven under again I would need to be eight-under to catch him, which would be a great effort. I think my six in the first round was as well as I am going to do, and for him to make seven was a great effort.

“Given the conditions and the course, there are some hard holes, I think a 69 or 70 is a good score and that showed because after George’s 65 the best score is 67.”

Robinson (Southport & Ainsdale Golf Club), who won the Buildbase Open at Frilford Heath in June, also carded a second-round 69 to move to third, while Kilpatrick (Banbridge Golf Club) shot 70 to end the day four behind the leader.

A two-hour highlights package to be shown on Sky Sports on Tuesday, August 5. Spectator entry is free of charge and live scoring can be found at www.europrotour.com.