Moriarty survives rollercoaster

Colm Moriarty survived a rollercoaster day to keep his victory hopes alive in the €150,000 Challenge of Ireland at Glasson Golf Hotel and Country Club near Athlone.

The touring pro for the host club slipped to a two-over par 74 and three shots behind leader Richie Ramsay of Scotland on five-under par.

But he was pleased that he didn't completely blow his chances and reckons he still has every chance of picking up his second Challenge Tour victory.

Moriarty said: “It was a difficult day but I started poorly and was three over par after five and it was always going to be a struggle to shoot a really good round from there

“Overall I am reasonably happy because at least I didn’t shoot myself out of it and I am only going to be three shots behind going into the last day. After the start I had I have to say that I am pleased enough with the way I finished.”

Former US Amateur champion Ramsay was delighted with a level par 72 that gave him a one stroke lead on eight-under par from Sweden’s Peter Gustafsson (66) and Englishmen Marcus Higley (66) and Richard Bland (72).

Looking forward to the pressure, Ramsay said: "Everyone spends hours practicing for it. I know that I've done it before and I did it today so there's no reason I can't go out there and do it tomorrow."

Royal County Down based Englishman Simon Thornton is the next best of the “home” brigade on four under after a 68 with Lurgan rookie Gareth Shaw just outside the top-10 on three-under par after a 73.

Challenge of Ireland, Glasson Golf Hotel & CC (Par 72)

208 R Ramsay (Sco) 66 70 72;

209 P Gustafsson (Swe) 75 68 66, M Higley (Eng) 71 72 66, R Bland (Eng) 68 69 72;

210 D Drysdale (Sco) 67 74 69;

211 J Blixt (Swe) 70 75 66, D Wardrop (Eng) 68 72 71, C Moriarty (Irl) 67 70 74;

212 S Thornton (Irl) 71 73 68, C Del Moral (Esp) 70 71 71;

213 R Rock (Eng) 73 71 69, A Tampion (Aus) 71 71 71, T Milford (Eng) 69 72 72, G Shaw (Nir) 69 71 73, S Jeppesen (Swe) 67 73 73;

214 O David (Fra) 71 73 70, L Gagli (Ita) 72 72 70, D Marmion (Eng) 72 71 71, M Smith (Eng) 70 72 72, J Kehoe (Irl) 71 71 72, M Haastrup (Den) 69 72 73, E Goya (Arg) 65 75 74, A Gee (Eng) 67 73 74, C Lee (Sco) 67 72 75, M McDermott (Irl) 64 75 75;

215 R McEvoy (Eng) 71 73 71, I Garbutt (Eng) 74 70 71, A McArthur (Sco) 72 71 72, M Tullo (Chi) 72 71 72, D Park (Wal) 71 71 73, W Besseling (Ned) 67 74 74;

216 G Davies (Eng) 70 75 71, G Murray (Sco) 71 74 71, R Davies (Wal) 70 75 71, B McCarroll (Irl) 74 71 71; G Lockerbie (Eng) 69 75 72, R De Sousa (Sui) 69 74 73, A Butterfield (Eng) 69 74 73, G Maybin (Nir) 70 73 73, T Cruz (Por) 67 72 77;

217 M Pilkington (Wal) 71 74 72, G Bowden (Irl) 72 73 72, T Dykes (Wal) 70 74 73, S Henderson (Sco) 68 75 74, R Coles (Eng) 68 74 75, D Carter (Eng) 74 68 75, D Higgins (Irl) 66 74 77;

218 M King (Eng) 72 73 73, B Miarka (Ger) 72 73 73, A Willey (Eng) 72 73 73, S Juul (Den) 74 70 74, M Zions (Aus) 70 72 76;

219 J Clément (Sui) 71 74 74, R Steiner (Aut) 72 73 74, P Nilbrink (Nor) 72 73 74, S Davis (Eng) 67 77 75, L James (Eng) 71 73 75, A Rocha (Bra) 70 74 75, R Kakko (Fin) 73 71 75, C Smith (Wal) 72 71 76, I Van Weerelt (Ned) 70 72 77;

220 E Ramsay (Sco) 72 73 75, B Grace (RSA) 71 74 75, D Horsey (Eng) 69 75 76; B Evans (Eng) 71 73 76, K Sullivan (Wal) 72 72 76; A Snobeck (Fra) 69 74 77, A Bernadet (Fra) 69 73 78;

221 P Streeter (Eng) 72 73 76, P O'Keeffe (Irl) 72 71 78, J Ruebotham (Eng) 67 74 80.