Shane Lowry leads Irish challenge as Joost Luiten albatross carries him to Valderrama summit
Shane Lowry will lead the Irish challenge into the weekend at golf's Valderrama Masters.
He had a double-bogey on the last as he signed for a 70 which moves the Offaly man to level-par after two rounds.
Padraig Harrington closed three-over while Gary Hurley missed the cut at 11 over.
Joost Luiten hit a stunning albatross to claim a one-shot lead after two rounds.
The Dutchman holed his second shot at the par-five 11th to wow the galleries and take a giant step towards the leaderboard summit, where he sits on six under par.
That moment turned the 31-year-old's round on its head, and wiped out three of the four bogeys he made en route to a one-under 70.
Luiten had finished second at last year's Open de Espana at the same venue and reached the halfway stage a stroke ahead of tournament host Sergio Garcia, Englishman Robert Rock and Scott Jamieson of Scotland.
Conditions made scoring tougher than on day one, with Rock also one under for the day and Garcia shooting a level-par 71. Jamieson's 68, containing five birdies and two bogeys, was therefore good enough to catapult him into the reckoning.
