Robert Moran was left to rue a late double bogey which halted his momentum on an otherwise excellent round on day three of the Challenge Tour’s Euram Bank Open.
The rookie pro made two birdies on the front nine and added two more on 10 and 14 before reaching the par-3 16th. The resulting double bogey saw him slip back to tied 10th at -8, one ahead of Ronan Mullarney who saw his hopes of a first Challenge Tour victory fade with a one-over 71.
The Galway man made an early bogey on the second but responded in excellent fashion to eagle the third, but he’d drop two more shots over the following 15 holes and sits tied for 12th going into the final round.
Gary Hurley shot the round of the day from an Irish perspective and his four-under 66 sees him climb to tied 21st at -6, with Dermot McElroy and Daniel Mulligan locked in 33rd place at -4.
Frank Kennedy will take a two-stroke lead into the final round after carding a five under par third round of 65 in Ramsau.
The Englishman, who began the day in a share of the overnight lead, fired three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to make the turn five under. Despite three bogeys in a row at the start of his back nine, he recovered with birdies at the 15th, 16th and 18th to finish 14 under par, two shots clear of Italian Pietro Bovari and Austrian Maximilian Steinlechner.
The 18-year-old was pleased with his efforts on moving day at GC Adamstal, and highlighted his approach play as a particular strength of his third round.
“I played a lot of good golf today,” he said. “It was a bit of a rollercoaster round, but always nice to finish with a birdie at 18.
“It was a very nice start with birdie, par, eagle on the first three. I made a few sloppy mistakes after the turn, but a nice save on 14 gave me some momentum, and it was nice to get those birdies back to put me in a good position for tomorrow.
“My approach play was the best part of my game today. I had a lot of birdie chances, and I feel like, minus those mistakes, it was very good golf all day.”
Kennedy, who is playing his first season on tour after turning professional last year, is looking forward to defending his lead in the final round and hoping to draw on experience from his amateur career to help secure a maiden Challenge Tour title.
“I’m excited,” he said. “It’s my first lead in a pro event since turning pro last year, but I had a few situations where I was leading in amateur golf and I seemed to handle it well, so I’m looking forward to the test.”
Frenchman Martin Couvra shares fourth place at 11 under par with German Veltin Meyer, while four players share sixth a further shot back, including Germans Nicolai Von Dellingshausen and Marc Hammer, Englishman Piers Berrington, and Frenchman Felix Mory, who posted the low round of the day with an eight under 62.
The final round of the Euram Bank Open gets under way at 6:55am local time, with Kennedy teeing it up alongside Steinlechner and Bovari at 11:00am.