Frustration for players in rain-lashed Milan

'Harrington gave the Irish rugby team a pep talk at the end of 2008 but admitted that this is a new generation of players and they may now have more self-belief than any Irish team in history.' Photo: Getty Images

Independent.ie Sportsdesk

Another day, another blast of horrible weather, and more delays to the Italian Open at Golf Club Milano in Monza, Italy - all very frustrating.

This tournament was supposed to give seven of Darren Clarke's European Ryder Cup team a nice competitive outing before settling down to plan for their arrival at Hazeltine on Monday week.

Instead, the players and officials have endured long periods of inactivity over the first two days due to the severity of the downpours.

The good news is that Ryder Cup players Danny Willett (-9), Andy Sullivan (-7), Matthew Fitzpatrick (-6) and Martin Kaymer (-6) were in hot pursuit of leader Chris Paisley.

Paisley got to -10 after 13 holes before play stopped, and he joins a large cohort of players who faced a 7.30am start this morning, including Ryder Cup-bound Chris Wood, Lee Westwood and Rafa Cabrera-Bello.

Pádraig Harrington was on two-under par after 32 holes.

Paul Dunne (level par) and Paul McGinley (+5) did not hit a shot in the second round yesterday.

Northern Ireland's Michael Hoey was three-over after 33 holes.