Gary McDermott kept his cool after making a snowman on the back nine and battled winds gusting over 40 mph to take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the weather-delayed Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin.

The 32-year old from Co Sligo, now playing out of Carton House, raced into a four-shot lead when he played his first 12 holes in three under par.

But a bogey at the 13th, followed by a triple bogey eight at the 14th and another bogey at the 15th saw him come back to the field before he played the hugely difficult finishing stretch in level par to lead by two strokes on two under 214 from 20-year old West of Ireland champion Jack Hume.

Hume carded a third successive 72 to finish on level par with 21-year old Irish Close champion Cormac Sharvin from Ardglass tied for third on one-over alongside 19-year old Scot Jamie Savage (75).

Ten players are within seven shots of McDermott’s lead but the experienced former international, seeking his maiden championship win, appears determined to grind out another score on what’s certain to be another trying day and seal what would be a sensational wire-to-wire victory. 

“Tomorrow? I haven’t thought about it,” he said moments after putting out under the glare of Royal Dublin’s 18th green floodlights. “The clock starts again so I’ll just keep doing what I am doing and count them up at the end of the day and see how it goes.”

He got off to a superb start on a day of strong west winds that gusted up to 30 mph early in the day,

Two clear overnight, he hit a wedge to 30 feet at the second and hole the putt for eagle to get to six under par and while Sharvin was always close on his tail, he was two clear of the Ardglass man when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning as he stood on the eighth tee.

Following a frustrating suspension of close to two and a half hours, he parred his way to the 12th where he hit a five iron to 20 feet and holed the putt for birdie to get to seven under par and move four clear of Sharvin, who had started birdie-eagle-birdie before mixing four bogeys with two birdies in the eight-hole stretch from the fifth to the 12th.

The University of Stirling talent eventually dropped another three shots in his last four holes for a 73 that left him three back on one over.

But he could have been even closer had McDermott not battened down the hatches after a tough spell in the middle of the back nine.

“I was cruising,” McDermott said. “I played a lot better today, ball-striking wise, than I did the first two days. I had the ball under control all day for the most part, turned in two under which was very solid, made good pars on 10 and 11 and then made a nice birdie on 12.

“I dropped one on 13th, hit a four iron that turned left into the bunker and I didn’t get up and down. That was fine — bogeys aren’t too bad out there. 

“But on 14 I had the snowman. I was in the bunker off the tee and it dropped right under the front lip. I tried to lob it out and it hit the edge and came back to where it was. It was rock hard so I tried to go out sideways and the same thing happened again. I got out, third time lucky, but took eight and that got the blood boiling a bit.

“I bogeyed the 15th too, which was probably a hangover from the 14th. The wind was more across than down and I hit a lovely shot in but it came up just short and I pitched to four feet and missed the putt.

“On 16th I hit a lovely nine iron from 80 yards and just left the putt on the edge but on the 17th I drove down the left into a divot, hit a five iron from 150 yards to about 20 feet and managed to sneak it in on the left side. 

“I drove it into the bunker on the last, trying to steer it a wee bit, and made five with a good two putt. Would I have taken two over today? Possibly so. The course is playing a couple over par so 74 is not a bad score.”

While Sharvin and McDermott were grinding, Hume carded a third 72 on the trot when he played his made four birdies in the first eight holes and then played the last 10 in four over with bogeys at the ninth, 11th, 12th and 16th.

Bidding to make amends for last year, when he led with four holes to play but ended up missing out on the playoff by a shot, he’s happy with his position.

“It was very difficult on the back nine so I was three under going out and three over coming back was good, I think,” Hume said. “I played really nicely on the front nine.

“I played better today than on the first two days. I hit a few loose shots on the way in but it’s tough in that wind I suppose. I’m in with a chance anyway, a good position and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

“I just wanted to be up there in contention with a round to go and with a chance going into the final round and that’s where I am. I’ve had a few experiences of being up there in a tournaments so the more of those you have, the better.”

Sharvin now plays most of his golf in Scotland but with the Great Britain and Ireland's Walker Cup selectors looking on, he certainly impressed.

“That’s probably the hardest back nine of golf I have ever played in my life,” he said. “It was blowing 40 mph on every shot. If you missed a green on the back nine and pitched to six feet, six footers were as hard as 15 footers.

“It was so tough and I bogeyed three of the last four but everyone is going to make mistakes out there so I am happy where I am sitting at the moment. It gives me a good chance going into tomorrow.”

England’s Marco Penge, who does not turn 16 until next week, is not out of the hunt by any means after a 71 left him tied for fifth with world No 67 Robbie van West of the Netherlands (72) and England’s Ashley Mason (74), five shots off the lead on three over.

Penge, who retained the Fairhaven Trophy last week by seven shots, is playing full time golf and hopes to turn professional if he earns a Walker Cup call up next year.

Remarkably, he opened with a 79 on Thursday but is now four under for the last 36 holes and in with a chance of becoming the youngest winner in the history of the event.

“This is my first year here,” said Penge, who lost to Robin Dawson in a playoff for last year’s Irish Boys Championship at Lisburn. “I’m looking forward to trying to catch the leader tomorrow.”

Royal Dublin’s Jeff Hopkins, 22, is tied for eighth after a sensational, joint-best of the day 70 that left him just six back alongside the Isle of Man’s Tom Gandy (78) and Scotland’s Alexander Culverwell (77) on four over.

"It's not far away and the back nine is playing extremely tough,” said Hopkins, who is back in form with the driver after moving to coach John Kelly. “It's not about pretty golf it's just about making as many pars as you can.

"I dropped one shot all day on the 10th and had three birdies. I had a lot of chances all day but didn't take them. I made a good birdie on 16 and a good par on 17. 

"The 18th is very tough. The wind is down off the right and it's hard to judge how far to hit it. It's nearly impossible to hold the green coming in so you just have to take your chances on getting up and down from the left, which I did. I hit four-iron off the tee and four iron for my second."

South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhout is alone in 11th on five over while Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy’s 72 left him tied for 12th with Tullamore’s Stuart Grehan (74), eight off the pace on six over.

“I had a chance on every hole inside 10 feet on the front nine and went out in two under but could have birdied every hole,” said McElroy, who is frustrated by his putting. T”hen I played really well coming in too but holed nothing. It’s meant to be windy tomorrow and my game is in good shape so if I can get the putter going, I will definitely be close because I am playing well and confident in my game.”

The cut fell for the top 50 and ties fell at 14 over 230, which meant that defending champion Robbie Cannon survived on the limit after a 75.

IRISH AMATEUR OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP, ROYAL DUBLIN (PAR 72)

TEE-TIMES - RD 4

1. (7:00) McCarthy
2. (7:09) Cannon, Lester 
3. (7:18) Russell, Tomlinson 
4. (7:27) Arkenau, Holland
5. (7:36) Cullen, McCullen
6. (7:45) Smith, Fox
7. (7:54) Syme, Borrowman
8. (8:03) Lipold, Gibson
9. (8:12) McNamara, Choen
10. (8:21) Shanahan, Campbell
11. (8:30) Hanna, Greene
12. (8:39) Best, Allan
13. (8:48) McLarnon, Knightly
14. (8:57) Dunton, Lenehan
15. (9:06) Le Blanc, Coghlan
16. (9:15) Ruuska, Westdijk
17. (9:24) Kuronen, Mottershead
18. (9:33) Lawrence, Fairweather 
19. (9:42) Dawson, MacAndrew
20. (9:51) Anderson, Whitson
21. (10:00) McBride, Grehan
22. (10:09) McElroy, Bezuidenhout
23. (10:18) Culverwell, Gandy
24. (10:27) Hopkins, Mason
25. (10:36) van West, Penge 
26. (10:45) Savage, Sharvin
27. (10:54) Hume, McDermott

AFTER 54 HOLES

214 Gary McDermott (Carton House) 69 71 74

216 Jack Hume (Naas) 72 72 72

217 Jamie Savage (Scotland) 74 68 75 , Cormac Sharvin (Ardglass) 74 70 73

219 Marco Penge (England) 79 69 71 , Robbie van West (Netherlands) 73 74 72 , Ashley Mason (England) 72 73 74

220 Jeff Hopkins (The Royal Dublin) 74 76 70 , Tom Gandy (Isle of Man) 71 71 78 , Alexander Culverwell (Scotland) 70 73 77

221 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa) 75 71 75

222 Dermot McElroy (Ballymena) 76 74 72 , Stuart Grehan (Tullamore) 72 76 74

223 Reeve Whitson (Mourne) 76 71 76 , Paul McBride (The Island) 76 73 74 , Barry Anderson (The Royal Dublin) 75 76 72 , Nick MacAndrew (Scotland) 75 72 76 , Robin Dawson (Faithlegg) 74 74 75 , Colin Fairweather (Knock) 73 76 74 , Thriston Lawrence (South Africa) 73 70 80

224 Gus Mottershead (England) 76 76 72 , Miki Kuronen (Finland) 75 77 72 , Sem Westdijk (Netherlands) 71 75 78

225 Lauri Ruuska (Finland) 76 75 74 , Darragh Coghlan (Portmarnock) 75 74 76 , Kevin Le Blanc (The Island) 74 72 79 , Geoff Lenehan (Portmarnock) 73 76 76

226 Adam Dunton (Scotland) 78 74 74 , Richard Knightly (The Royal Dublin) 76 77 73 , Tiarnan McLarnon (Massereene) 74 75 77

227 James Allan (England) 77 76 74 , Ben Best (Rathmore) 76 78 73 , John Greene (Portmarnock) 76 73 78 , William Hanna (Kilkeel) 75 77 75 , Colm Campbell (Warrenpoint) 73 76 78

228 Mark Shanahan (Castlemartyr) 82 73 73 , Assaf Choen (Israel) 78 75 75 , Rory McNamara (Headfort) 74 80 74 , Scott Gibson (Scotland) 73 75 80

229 Lukas Lipold (Austria) 83 74 72 , Scott Borrowman (Scotland) 80 73 76 , James Fox (Portmarnock) 78 73 78 , Connor Syme (Scotland) 78 76 75 , Eugene Smith (Ardee) 76 80 73 , Haydn McCullen (England) 75 80 74 , Seamus Cullen (Slieve Russell) 75 76 78 , Daniel Holland (Castle) 75 75 79 , Henry Tomlinson (England) 74 76 79 , Hinrich Arkenau (Germany) 74 80 75

230 William Russell (Clandeboye) 83 77 70 , Kieran McCarthy (Castlemartyr) 78 73 79 , Robert Cannon (Balbriggan) 78 77 75 , Rowan Lester (Hermitage) 78 77 75

CUT

231 Shaun O'Connor (Luttrellstown Castle) 81 78 72 , Eoin Arthurs (Forrest Little.) 80 78 73 , Bradley Neil (Scotland) 79 75 77 , Sean Ryan (The Royal Dublin) 79 78 74 , Joao Magalhaes (Portugal) 79 78 74 , Eddie McCormack (Galway) 79 75 77 , Kristian Kulokorpi (Finland) 78 81 72 , Jack Bush (Wales) 78 73 80

232 Gordon Stevenson (Scotland) 79 78 75 , John Duff (Scotland) 79 74 79 , Conor O'Rourke (Naas) 79 78 75 , Paul Coughlan (Moate) 78 80 74 , Stephen Healy (Claremorris) 74 77 81

233 Steffan O'Hara (Co. Sligo) 83 74 76 , James Yeomans (England) 80 77 76 , Vitor Lopes (Portugal) 80 77 76 , Declan Reidy (Co. Sligo) 80 77 76 , Sigot Lopez (Spain) 77 79 77 , Liam Hutchinson (The Royal Dublin) 77 81 75 , Ian O'Rourke (The Royal Dublin) 75 75 83

234 Gary Collins (Rosslare) 81 76 77 , Stephen McCarthy (Black Bush) 80 79 75 , John-Ross Galbraith (Whitehead) 77 78 79 , Craig Howie (Scotland) 76 79 79 , Kelan McDonagh (The Royal Dublin) 76 82 76 , Dylan Boshart (Netherlands) 76 78 80

235 David Brady (Co. Sligo) 82 76 77 , Andre Tourinho (Brazil) 82 75 78 , Matt Kippen (England) 73 81 81 , Janes Lombardo (Germany) 73 78 84

236 Daniel Kay (Scotland) 83 75 78 , Richard O'Donovan (Lucan) 82 76 78 , Richard Bridges (Stackstown) 78 82 76

237 Ryan Symington (Lisburn) 80 77 80 , Daniel Young (Scotland) 80 75 82

238 Daniel Brennan (Shannon) 85 73 80 , Eddy Holland (England) 79 75 84 , Anthony Blaney (Scotland) 78 82 78

239 Louis Leysen (Belgium) 83 79 77 , Alan Sutherland (Scotland) 82 82 75 , Paul Reilly (Scotland) 81 78 80 , Adam Wilson (Wales) 78 76 85 , Simon Bryan (Delgany) 76 80 83 , Eanna Griffin (Waterford) 75 76 88

240 Sean Moran (Carton House) 80 78 82 , Ross Hopwood (England) 77 79 84

241 NJ Arnoldi (South Africa) 86 79 76 , Gaetan Van Baarle (Belgium) 84 81 76 , Cameron Mills (Shandon Park) 84 78 79 , Laurens Jansen (Netherlands) 83 78 80

242 David Carey (Carton House) 86 80 76 , Roy Connolly (Palmerstown Stud) 84 79 79

243 John McGinn (Laytown & Bettystown) 83 82 78 , Alexander Verschaeren (Luxembourg) 81 80 82 , Chris Carroll (Shandon Park) 77 83 83

244 Goncalo Costa (Portugal) 84 81 79

246 Adrien Michellod (Switzerland) 85 85 76

247 Simon Zach (Czech Republic) 85 81 81 , David Deschler (USA) 79 85 83

251 Michael Harradine (Switzerland) 80 85 86

253 Petr Dedek (Czech Republic) 92 82 79

255 Shane McGlynn (Carton House) 91 84 80 , Yair Taler (Israel) 88 85 82

257 Luis Thiele (Brazil) 91 82 84