Dunbar swallowed by the pack

Byeong-hun An shares the lead in the Scottish Hyrdo Challenge. Picture © Getty ImagesWhen you shoot 75 on the Challenge Tour, you can expect to get trampled in the stampede.

That’s what happened to Rathmore’s Alan Dunbar, whose four over par third round saw him slip from second to 28th and nine strokes behind leaders Byeong-hun An and Steven Tiley in the Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts.

Tiley shot a 63 and An a 65 to top the leaderboard on 16 under par by a shot from European Challenge Tour rankings leader Brooks Koepka, who equalled the course record with a sparkling 62.

The American has won three times on the Challenge Tour in the last 12 months - twice this calendar year - but he will have to overcome the two leaders when he plays in the final group tomorrow if he is to clinch a third win of the season and gain him automatic promotion to The European Tour.

An, who became the youngest player to win the US Amateur Championship in 2009, shared the first round lead with Dunbar after equalling the Northern Irishman’s course record 62 and he followed up a steady second round 70 with a six under par third round 65 to climb back to the summit on 16 under.

“It was definitely a good round,” said the 21 year old Seoul native. “I missed a few birdie putts but I’m putting pretty well in general and seeing a lot of good lines and I came pretty close on most putts, even the long ones.

“This course can get really easy if you are hitting it long. You can get it really close because there are some short holes and we’ll see how we do tomorrow. I’m not sure about how the weather will be, I think it is meant to be bad but I’m OK with that.”

Tiley, meanwhile, carded a superb eight under par round of 63 which included a seven under par front nine and he was looking forward to taking on two young players with huge reputations in what is sure to be a cracking finale at the northern Scotland venue.

“I birdied five of the first six holes so it doesn’t get much better than that,” said the 30 year old. “I’m looking forward to the last round, definitely. I have been putting some work in over the past few days and it’s paying off. I’m just playing well really.”

Koepka, himself, is still on top of the world despite feeling tired after a busy nine-week period and is proud that so many people are speaking so highly of him, with some experienced Challenge Tour and European Tour players saying he is the best player they have ever seen.

“It’s nice that people are talking about me,” said the 23 year old. “I can’t control that but all I can do is go out and play good golf and everything takes care of itself.

“I really want that third win, it’s been driving me a lot. I really want to get one before I go home to the USA for a while and this is my last week. I want to get out there on The European Tour.”

Niall Kearney shot a three under 68 to share 40th on six under but Glasson’s Colm Moriarty posted a 74 to fall to tied 50th on five under.

Galgorm Castle’s Gareth Shaw had a poor day, failing to make a birdie in a five over 76 that left him second last in the field on level par.

Scores:

197 B An (Kor) 62 70 65, S Tiley (Eng) 67 67 63,

198 B Koepka (USA) 70 66 62, A Pavan (Ita) 65 67 66,

199 J Dantorp (Swe) 65 65 69,

200 M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 67 68 65, A Velasco (Esp) 66 69 65, J Doherty (Sco) 66 66 68, D Frittelli (RSA) 65 68 67, D Stewart (Sco) 65 67 68, S Walker (Eng) 67 65 68,

201 E Dubois (Fra) 66 67 68, T Hatton (Eng) 65 69 67, G Hutcheon (Sco) 68 69 64, J Carlsson (Swe) 66 68 67, G Cambis (Fra) 66 66 69,

202 M Trappel (Aut) 68 69 65, T Murray (Eng) 67 65 70,

203 S Garcia (Esp) 63 70 70,

204 P Maddy (Eng) 68 68 68, N McCarthy (Eng) 69 69 66, C Kelly (Sco) 68 71 65, T Remkes (Ned) 66 66 72,

205 L Kennedy (Eng) 67 71 67, J Watts (Eng) 65 74 66, G Dear (Sco) 68 69 68, G Wright (Wal) 68 68 69,

206 J Abbott (Eng) 70 67 69, S Kim (Kor) 69 69 68, A Dunbar (Nir) 62 69 75, K Borsheim (Nor) 68 71 67, K Ferrie (Eng) 67 68 71, J Huldahl (Den) 68 67 71, D Dixon (Eng) 68 68 70, T Sluiter (Ned) 71 65 70, A Forsyth (Sco) 69 69 68, B Hebert (Fra) 67 71 68, R Kellett (Sco) 68 69 69, D Geminiani (Ita) 71 67 68,

207 E Saltman (Sco) 71 68 68, N Kearney (Irl) 70 69 68, J Gibb (Eng) 68 70 69, J McLeary (Sco) 66 71 70, O Whiteley (Eng) 72 65 70, T Nørret (Den) 68 66 73, P McKechnie (Sco) 67 70 70, J Garcia Pinto (Esp) 70 69 68, P Edberg (Swe) 69 67 71, J Guerrier (Fra) 68 70 69,

208 C Moriarty (Irl) 69 65 74, S Dodd (Wal) 72 67 69, N Lemke (Swe) 65 70 73, R Quiros (Esp) 70 66 72, C Russo (Fra) 66 73 69, J Fahrbring (Swe) 70 68 70, O Wilson (Eng) 72 66 70,

209 A Gee (Eng) 69 70 70, J Mikkelsen (Nor) 69 70 70, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 69 71, J Lima (Por) 67 72 70, J Mommo (Fin) 68 70 71, A Bernadet (Fra) 69 70 70, B Etchart (Esp) 71 68 70,

210 M Sell (Eng) 69 70 71,

211 M Kerr (Sco) 71 68 72, S Parry (Eng) 68 71 72, L Saltman (Sco) 70 69 72,

212 S Manley (Wal) 68 71 73, S Whiffin (Eng) 73 65 74,

213 G Shaw (Nir) 69 68 76,

214 L Corfield (Eng) 70 69 75