McGrane tops leaderboard in Australia

Kells golfer Damien McGrane made four birdies on his final seven holes to join American Anthony Kang at the top of the leaderboard after the second round of the Johnnie Walker Classic in Perth today. The 37-year-old Knightsbrook professional followed his opening 66 with a four-under-par 68 to draw level on 10-under with Kang, who carded his second consecutive 67 at The Vines Resort and Country Club. McGrane was handily placed at six-under after the opening round and improved to eight-under before suffering consecutive bogeys on the ninth and 10th. But the Irishman reeled off three straight birdies from the 12th to 14th to move back into contention and holed his sixth birdie of the day at the final hole to grab a share of top spot with Kang. "I played better off the tee today and hit more fairways, which was helpful,' said McGrane, who recorded his maiden European Tour win at last year's Volvo China Open. "I'm putting quite nicely again today. I made some mistakes in the middle of the round but I played solid overall and bounced back well from those mistakes at the ninth and 10th to shoot four-under. "After a bit of a shake in the middle it was nice to bounce back with three birdies in a row and I could have birdied a lot more holes," he concluded.