John Ross Galbraith was the biggest mover among the 10 Irish on day three of DP World Tour Q-School, while Max Kenendy kept the foot down and Mark Power continued his steady play.
Playing across four Spanish venues, Desert Springs in Almería is where Galbraith and Power are competing and the former, after a 68 on day one and a Jekyll and Hyde 73 on day two, brought something close to his best on moving day.
On a bogey-free day, he carded four birdies with a highlight eagle coming on the par-4 seventh – a hole he double bogeyed the previous day – shooting a six-under 66 that lifted him into a share of 11th at -9. One shot behind the Whitehead man sits Power. The Kilkenny man kept things ticking over nicely with a three-under 69, featuring three birdies, two bogeys and an eagle, and he lies tied for 14th with the top 24 players advancing after tomorrow’s final round.
Dermot McElroy (+2) and Hugh Foley (+4) have left themselves too much to do barring miraculous final rounds and even then, they may need help from the other contenders as five players share 23rd at -6.
Max Kennedy, competing at Isla Canela Links in Huelva, is the best-placed of the 10 Irish as he lies in fifth place and just two off the top spot with 18 to play. The Royal Dublin man followed rounds of 66 and 67 with another five-under 66 to move to -14 overall and he has six shots to spare over the quartet tied for 22nd.
Cormac Sharvin, after back-to-back 68s, shot a level-par 71, mixing five birdies with three bogeys and a double and he has to pick up a couple of shots on the other contenders as he’s two shots off a provisional playoff at -6 and tied for 33rd, again with the top 24 advancing.
Golf Las Pinaillas in Albacete is where Paul McBride and Robert Moran are competing, and it was a disappointing day for both as McBride shot a one-over 72 leaving him on -3 and in a tie for 31st with the leading 23 players moving on.
Moran’s three-over 74 leaves him on +2 and he’ll need a round in the low 60s in the final round to have a chance. The good news is that there have been a couple of 63s from other players this week, so he’s not out of hope just yet.
At Fontanals, David Carey’s three-under 68, hampered by a double bogey on the 14th, brought him back to within four of the qualification mark, but at T46, there’s a lot of traffic between him and the duo sharing 23rd with 24 places at Final Stage available.
Tom Dowdall’s hopes appear to be over after a third-round 74 undid a promising start. He goes into the final round at level-par and sharing 57th.
Desert Springs Leaderboard
Isla Canela Leaderboard
Fontanals Leaderboard
Las Pinaillas Leaderboard
