McGrane on the rise in Austria
Damien McGrane in action in the third round of the Lyoness Open in Austria. Picture: Jos Linckens / www.golffile.ieDamien McGrane made a positive move up the leaderboard but it was a day to forget for Gareth Maybin and David Higgins in the Lyoness Open powered by Greenfinity.
As Maybin and Higgins carded two over 74s to fall back to two under and one over par respectively at Diamond Country Club in Austria, McGrane shot 70 to climb seven places to joint 29th on five under.
That might be 11 strokes behind Holland’s Joost Luiten, who will take a three shot lead into the final round after a majestic back nine led to a five under par 67.
But McGrane knows that every cent is vital when it comes to securing his tour card for 2014 and while he had two bogeys - at the first and seventh - he had two birdies and an eagle three at the 10th for the second time this week.
As for Luiten, the 27 year old Dutchman was two over after five holes, but battled back to level par by the turn before racking up five birdies on the way home to reach 16 under for the tournament.
Spaniards Jorge Campillo and Eduardo De La Riva are his closest challengers, the former signing for a 66 and the latter birdieing the last for a 69, while Dane Thomas Björn shot a superb 64 to move to 11 under alongside Romain Wattel (69).
“It’s easy if you play like I did on the back nine, but the first fives holes were tough,” said Luiten, whose sole European Tour title came at the 2011 Iskandar Johor Open. “Once I settled down a bit I started to play better, hit some good shots and make some putts.
“It was good to get some birdies back after that start. There are some tricky holes out there, but my irons felt good so I went at some pins.
“It’s always good to have a lead in the last round, but tomorrow is a new day and I’ll have to try to play good golf again.
“I’d prefer to be leading than to be behind. I don’t mind playing with the lead. You still have to focus on your own game and play some good shots, without worrying what the other guys are doing.”
THIRD ROUND SCORES
200 J Luiten (Ned) 65 68 67,
203 E De La Riva (Esp) 69 65 69, J Campillo (Esp) 70 67 66,
205 T Björn (Den) 71 70 64, R Wattel (Fra) 68 68 69,
206 P Waring (Eng) 67 67 72, M Jiménez (Esp) 67 70 69,
207 L Gagli (Ita) 72 67 68, H Otto (RSA) 71 65 71,
208 S Little (Eng) 69 73 66, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 72 66 70, A Forsyth (Sco) 70 68 70, L Wen-Chong (Chn) 67 72 69, T Lewis (Eng) 63 74 71, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 66 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 70 68 70,
209 D Drysdale (Sco) 71 66 72, T Hatton (Eng) 74 69 66, S Dyson (Eng) 66 74 69, C Macaulay (Sco) 68 66 75, L Slattery (Eng) 71 68 70, A Levy (Fra) 66 75 68, A Sullivan (Eng) 67 71 71,
210 S Webster (Eng) 68 71 71, S Hansen (Den) 70 72 68, M Lampert (Ger) 69 72 69, E Grillo (Arg) 72 67 71, S Wakefield (Eng) 75 65 70,
211 S Kapur (Ind) 68 72 71, P Gustafsson (Swe) 71 73 67, M Carlsson (Swe) 69 72 70, G Storm (Eng) 66 74 71, B Wiesberger (Aut) 68 71 72, M Wiegele (Aut) 73 71 67, C Lee (Sco) 70 73 68, D McGrane (Irl) 69 72 70, F Andersson Hed (Swe) 74 67 70, C Paisley (Eng) 69 72 70, G Bhullar (Ind) 72 67 72, M Schwab (am) (Aut) 67 74 70,
212 B Dredge (Wal) 71 69 72, M Southgate (Eng) 73 70 69, M Tullo (Chi) 69 70 73,
213 A Snobeck (Fra) 70 71 72, J Kingston (RSA) 72 69 72, T Levet (Fra) 73 70 70, R McEvoy (Eng) 66 74 73,
214 G Maybin (Nir) 72 68 74, M Nixon (Eng) 69 71 74, O Floren (Swe) 71 69 74, L Astl (Aut) 71 71 72,
215 R Bland (Eng) 72 70 73, M Korhonen (Fin) 72 72 71, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 72 70 73, G Stal (Fra) 73 71 71, J Glennemo (Swe) 70 68 77, D Gaunt (Aus) 70 74 71,
216 J Barnes (Eng) 68 72 76, R Derksen (Ned) 74 70 72, L Nemecz (Aut) 71 69 76, P Hedblom (Swe) 70 72 74,
217 M Lundberg (Swe) 71 73 73, D Higgins (Irl) 71 72 74, N Fasth (Swe) 75 68 74, R Santos (Por) 72 71 74, J Hansen (Den) 69 73 75,
218 S Dodd (Wal) 72 71 75, S Henry (Sco) 75 66 77,
219 A Hartø (Den) 73 71 75,
220 I Garrido (Esp) 69 74 77,
221 C Cévaër (Fra) 74 68 79