A sensational 64 by The Island's Gavin Moynihan and a 68 for Greystones' Paul Dunne have given Ireland a sporting chance of a clinching a best ever finish in the World Amateur Team Championship in Japan.

Tied for seventh entering the final round at Karuizawa 72 Golf East, Pádraig Hogan's three-man squad will be targeting that fifth place finish achieved by Kevin Phelan, Alan Dunbar and Paul Cutler in Argentina in 2010.

While Gary Hurley's three over 74 was discarded, the West Waterford man will again be key as Ireland tee off alongside Mexican and English playing partners on the par-72 Iriyama Course in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Team scoring

Individual scoring

While the USA look out of reach at the top of the leaderboard, three shots clear of Sweden and six ahead of Canada and Spain on 31 under par, Ireland are just four shots behind fifth placed Argentina on 20 under par.

Moynihan was the star of the show on Friday, firing eight birdies in a seven under 64 with his only mistake a three-putt at the 11th as he moved up to tied 13th in the individual standings.

Skipper Hogan was delighted to see putts drop for the team at last and while even maintaining their seventh place will require another red-hot day, there's no reason why Moynihan, Dunne and Hurley can't finish on a high note.

"It was a good day for the team," Hogan said from Japan. "At last the putts started dropping. Gavin played superbly and could have shot 60 had putts dropped.

"Paul was solid and built his 68 on back nine which was our first nine. Gary started brightly but ran up a double (bogey eight) on his ninth (the 787-yard par-6).  It seemed to upset his rhythm.

"We've moved nicely through the field and we're looking forward to tomorrow though we'll need to shoot similar score to hold our position because the scoring is exceptional."

There was no better example of the sensational scoring that the Eisenhower Trophy record low of 10 under par 61 carded by American Bryson DeChambeu.

With team mate Denny McCarthy adding a 67 for a combined 128, the USA grabbed the 54-hole lead at 31-under-par 397.

DeChambeau, an All-American choice at Southern Methodist University, closed his round on the par-71 Oshitate Course with six consecutive birdies. In all, he made 11 birdies against a lone bogey.

"I'm honoured and it's pretty cool to be the low number for the World Amateur,” said DeChambeau of his career low competitive round. “That's pretty sweet.

"I got off to a hot start and made a couple putts early and just kept going. I finished with six birdies and I've never done something like that so I'm excited to shoot that number and I'm ready for tomorrow."

The previous low individual score was 63 by Jason Dawes of Australia in the first round of the 1994 WATC in France. DeChambeau also tied for the lowest nine-hole score of 29, on his front nine.

McCarthy, an All-American at the University of Virginia, was five-under through 13 holes and finished with an eagle, three birdies and a bogey. Beau Hossler, the 2014 Western Amateur champion, shot a non-counting 68, which ties for lowest in history.

“They're really experienced tournament players,” USA captain Jim Hyler said of his team. “It's not a surprise to me that we've had nine rounds that are all in the 60s.These guys are trending in the right way coming into the World Amateur Team Championship and we've seen really good consistent play by all three."

The USA broke the record for lowest 54-hole score (404 set by the USA in 2012) by seven strokes. Its third-round total of 14-under 128 also broke the mark for any round – 131, set by the USA in the first round in 2012 – by three strokes.

"We're going to have to go out tomorrow and shoot another low round in double digits under par at least,” said Hossler, an All-American at the University of Texas. 

“Moving forward we need to play consistent golf, keep our heads down and keep focused on shooting more and more under par. Out here, you've got to take it pretty deep and if we can take advantage of the par 5s and the wedge holes, we're going to be just fine."

Sweden is second at 28-under 400; followed by Canada and Spain tied for third at 403; second-round leader Argentina in fifth at 404; Australia in sixth at 405; England and Ireland tied for seventh at 408; and Chinese Taipei, France, Mexico, Scotland and Switzerland tied for ninth at 409. Host Japan is tied for 33rd.

2014 WORLD AMATEUR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP, KARUIZAWA 72 GOLF EAST, JAPAN

PAR-71, 7,010-YARD/6,406-METER OSHITATE COURSE (OC)

PAR-72, 7,008-YARD/6,405-METER IRIYAMA COURSE (IC)

1. United States of America (USA) - 136 IC-133 OC-128 OC--397 (-31) Bryson DeChambeau 69-67-61--197 Beau Hossler 68-66-68--202 Denny McCarthy 68-68-67--203

2. Sweden (SWE) - 134 IC-135 OC-131 OC--400 (-28) Marcus Kinhult 65-66-67--198 Hannes Ronneblad 69-74-64--207 Adam Blomme 72-69-68--209

T3. Canada (CAN) - 134 IC-136 OC-133 OC--403 (-25) Corey Conners 66-69-67--202 Adam Svensson 69-69-66--204 Taylor Pendrith 68-67-69--204

T3. Spain (ESP) - 138 IC-133 OC-132 OC--403 (-25) Jon Rahm 70-64-62--196 Mario Galiano 68-69-70--207 Daniel Berna 75-69-77--221 

5. Argentina (ARG) - 135 IC-133 OC-136 OC--404 (-24) Alejandro Tosti 68-67-64--199 Jaime Lopez Rivarola 67-66-74--207 Matias Simaski 72-70-72--214

6. Australia (AUS) - 137 OC-136 IC-132 OC--405 (-23) Lucas Herbert 69-64-67--200 Ryan Ruffels 68-73-65--206 Geoff Drakeford 71-72-71--214

T7. England (ENG) - 136 IC-135 OC-137 OC--408 (-20) Benjamin Stow 67-67-68--202 Ryan Evans 72-68-69--209 Ashley Chesters 69-72-69--210

T7. Ireland (IRL) - 138 IC-138 OC-132 OC--408 (-20) Gavin Moynihan 69-70-64--203 Paul Dunne 70-70-68--208 Gary Hurley 69-68-74--211 

T9. Chinese Taipei (TPE) - 137 OC-137 IC-135 OC--409 (-19) Cheng-Tsung Pan 70-70-67--207 Chun-An Yu 67-67-75--209 Wei-Lun Wang 75-73-68--216

T9. France (FRA) - 140 IC-134 OC-135 OC--409 (-19) Victor Perez 69-65-66--200 Clement Sordet 71-69-70--210 Robin Sciot Siegrist 72-78-69--219

T9. Mexico (MEX) - 138 IC-136 OC-135 OC--409 (-19) Gerardo Ruiz De La Concha 68-67-66--201 Aaron Terrazas Morales 70-71-69--210 Alvaro Ortiz Becerra 71-69-70--210 

T9. Scotland (SCO) - 138 IC-133 OC-138 OC--409 (-19) Grant Forrest 68-68-69--205 Bradley Neil 72-65-71--208 Chris Robb 70-74-69--213 

T9. Switzerland (SUI) - 134 IC-135 OC-140 OC--409 (-19) Benjamin Rusch 68-66-70--204 Mathias Eggenberger 66-69-75--210 Marco Iten 72-70-70--212

14. Denmark (DEN) - 133 OC-140 IC-138 OC--411 (-17) Martin Leth Simonsen 67-70-66--203 Nicolai Kristensen 66-70-72--208 Niklas Noergaard Moeller 72-70-76--218

T15. Czech Republic (CZE) - 135 OC-141 IC-136 OC--412 (-16) Simon Zach 67-67-68--202 Vitek Novak 68-74-68--210 Michal Pospisil 76-78-68--222

T15. Germany (GER) - 137 OC-137 IC-138 OC--412 (-16) Hurly Long 67-69-68--204 Maximilian Mehles 70-68-71--209 Maximilian Rottluff 71-71-70--212

T17. Austria (AUT) - 140 IC-135 OC-138 OC--413 (-15) Lukas Lipold 72-66-69--207 Robin Goger 69-69-72--210 Markus Maukner 71-72-69--212 

T17. Chile (CHI) - 136 OC-139 IC-138 OC--413 (-15) Matias Dominguez 67-68-68--203 Guillermo Pereira 69-71-70--210 Martin Cancino 69-77-72--218

T17. Italy (ITA) - 140 IC-134 OC-139 OC--413 (-15) Renato Paratore 69-67-68--204 Guido Migliozzi 75-67-71--213 Enrico Di Nitto 71-70-73--214

20. Republic of Korea (KOR) - 142 OC-138 IC-135 OC--415 (-13) Eun-Ho Youm 71-67-69--207 Nam-Hun Kim 71-71-68--210 Tae-Hyun Kong 73-74-67--214

T21. Belgium (BEL) - 138 OC-138 IC-140 OC--416 (-12) Kevin Hesbois 70-68-71--209 Thomas Detry 68-70-76--214 Samuel Echikson 75-75-69--219

T21. Norway (NOR) - 141 IC-139 OC-136 OC--416 (-12) Kristian Johannessen 71-68-66--205 Kristoffer Ventura 70-71-70--211 Andreas Halvorsen 74-78-70--222

T21. Singapore (SIN) - 142 IC-138 OC-136 OC--416 (-12) Jonathan Woo 70-67-70--207 Johnson Poh 72-73-73--218 Marc Ong 81-71-66--218

T21. Slovenia (SLO) - 140 OC-141 IC-135 OC--416 (-12) Tim Gornik 67-73-69--209 Zan Luka Stirn 73-68-70--211 Enej Sarkanj 74-75-66--215

25. Colombia (COL) - 141 OC-141 IC-135 OC--417 (-11) Santiago Gomez 71-72-66--209 Nicolas Echavarria 70-69-71--210 Ricardo Celia 71-77-69--217

26. Venezuela (VEN) - 139 IC-141 OC-138 OC--418 (-10) Jorge Garcia 66-68-68--202 Alejandro Perazzo 73-73-74--220 Gustavo Morantes 78-75-70--223

T30. Poland (POL) - 142 IC-144 OC-135 IC--421 (-9) Mateusz Gradecki 70-71-69--210 Adrian Meronk 72-73-66--211 Jan Szmidt 79-73-74--226

27. Wales (WAL) - 138 OC-145 IC-136 OC--419 (-9) David Boote 70-73-65--208 Michael Hearne 68-72-71--211 Rhys Pugh 70-73-72--215

T28. New Zealand (NZL) - 144 IC-137 OC-139 OC--420 (-8) Tae Koh 72-69-69--210 Joshua Munn 72-69-70--211 Vaughan McCall 74-68-72--214

T28. People's Republic of China (CHN) - 142 IC-138 OC-140 OC--420 (-8) Zecheng Dou 68-72-70--210 Zhengkai Bai 75-69-70--214 Jin Zhang 74-69-72--215

T30. Puerto Rico (PUR) - 137 IC-142 OC-142 OC--421 (-7) Jeronimo Esteve 67-73-71--211 Robi Calvesbert 72-69-71--212 Edward Figueroa 70-74-73--217

T30. Thailand (THA) - 140 OC-145 IC-136 OC--421 (-7) Suradit Yongcharoenchai 68-71-69--208 Chanachok Dejpiratanamongkol 74-74-67--215 Nattawat Suvajanakorn 72-75-71--218

35. Finland (FIN) - 144 IC-143 OC-137 IC--424 (-6) Linus Vaisanen 72-70-68--210 Albert Eckhardt 73-73-69--215 Kristian Kulokorpi 72-73-73--218

33. Japan (JPN) - 138 IC-140 OC-144 OC--422 (-6) Takashi Ogiso 71-69-72--212 Kazuya Koura 69-71-74--214 Kenta Konishi 69-74-72--215

34. India (IND) - 141 IC-142 OC-140 OC--423 (-5) Udayan Mane 68-70-67--205 Feroz Garewal 73-72-75--220 Manu Gandas 76-76-73--225

36. Malaysia (MAS) - 143 IC-143 OC-140 IC--426 (-4) Gavin Kyle Green 68-72-69--209 Low Khai Jei 75-71-71--217 Abdul Manaf Muhammad Wafiyuddin 75-76-75--226

T38. Brazil (BRA) - 140 OC-147 IC-141 IC--428 (-2) Andre Tourinho 68-75-71--214 Thomaz Pimenta 72-72-72--216 Herik Machado 74-82-70--226

T38. Netherlands (NED) - 142 OC-147 IC-139 IC--428 (-2) Lars Van Meijel 72-74-68--214 Robbie Van West 71-76-71--218 Michael Kraaij 71-73-75--219

37. Portugal (POR) - 143 IC-142 OC-142 OC--427 (-1) Joao Carlota 69-69-74--212 Goncalo Costa 74-73-75--222 Tomas Silva 80-76-68--224

40. Slovakia (SVK) - 144 IC-144 OC-141 IC--429 (-1) Jan Friesz 72-72-71--215 Peter Valasek 75-72-70--217 Oliver Gabor 72-78-72--222

41. Costa Rica (CRC) - 146 IC-140 OC-144 IC--430 (Even) Jose Mendez 71-70-69--210 Alvaro Ortiz 75-70-75--220 Manuel Jimenez 84-84-80--248

T42. Guatemala (GUA) - 148 IC-139 OC-144 IC--431 (+1) Jose Pablo Rolz 74-69-71--214 Sebastian Barnoya 74-70-73--217 Daniel Gurtner 79-71-73--223

T42. Hong Kong, China (HKG) - 141 OC-145 IC-145 IC--431 (+1) Shinichi Mizuno 73-71-73--217 Matthew Cheung 70-74-74--218 Martin Liu 71-82-72--225

T42. Bermuda (BER) - 142 IC-142 OC-147 OC--431 (+3) Jarryd Dillas 71-70-72--213 Will Haddrell 73-72-76--221 Mark Phillips 71-80-75--226

T42. South Africa (RSA) - 144 IC-142 OC-145 OC--431 (+3) Zander Lombard 68-71-71--210 Jason Smith 78-71-74--223 Gerlou Roux 76-73-77--226

46. Guam (GUM) - 144 OC-146 IC-152 IC--442 (+12) Devin Hua 72-68-74--214 Louie Sunga 72-78-78--228 Daryl Poe 76-83-81--240 

47. Malta (MLT) - 146 OC-150 IC-149 IC--445 (+15) Andrew Borg 72-76-74--222 Daniel Holland 77-74-75--226 John Verlest Micallef 74-76-80--230

T48. Philippines (PHI) - 148 OC-149 IC-150 IC--447 (+17) Rupert Zaragosa 74-74-73--221 Kristoffer Arevalo 75-75-77--227 Raymart Tolentino 74-80-87--241

T48. Turkey (TUR) - 152 IC-144 OC-151 IC--447 (+17) Ediz Kemaloglu 76-73-74--223 Ali Altuntas 76-77-77--230 Serkan Akarsu 77-71-82--230

50. Uruguay (URU) - 150 OC-151 IC-148 IC--449 (+19) Juan Alvarez 71-74-71--216 Facundo Alvarez 79-77-77--233 Agustin Acosta 81-81-79--241

T51. Fiji (FIJ) - 143 OC-155 IC-153 IC--451 (+21) Sam Lee 71-77-76--224 Olaf Frank Grant Allen 72-78-77--227 Abid Hussain 81-80-81--242 

T51. Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) - 144 OC-161 IC-146 IC--451 (+21) Behrod Keshtavar 74-81-70--225 Hassan Karimian Noshahr 70-83-77--230 Ali Khazanbeik 78-80-76--234

T53. Dominican Republic (DOM) - 152 IC-147 OC-153 IC--452 (+22) Francisco Pichardo 81-71-77--229 Ernesto Vitienes 75-79-76--230 Juan Jose Guerra 77-76-78--231

T53. Russian Federation (RUS) - 144 OC-154 IC-154 IC--452 (+22) Mikhail Morozov 70-78-74--222 Nikita Ponomarev 74-77-80--231 Pavel Goryainov 77-77-81--235

55. Jamaica (JAM) - 149 OC-156 IC-152 IC--457 (+27) Sean Morris 72-79-76--227 Jonathan Newnham 77-77-76--230 Keith Stein 77-85-79--241

T56. Estonia (EST) - 156 IC-146 OC-157 IC--459 (+29) Martin Jarve 76-78-76--230 Marten Palm 80-71-81--232 Sander Aadusaar 81-75-83--239

T56. Serbia (SRB) - 154 IC-148 OC-157 IC--459 (+29) Cedomir Ilic 77-70-78--225 Ilija Djurdjevic 77-79-79--235 Ranko Helc 81-78-81--240

T58. Mauritius (MRI) - 155 OC-159 IC-151 IC--465 (+35) Ian Espitalier Noel 77-77-78--232 Ludovic Bax 78-82-73--233 Brent Sussens 87-85-94--266

T58. United Arab Emirates (UAE) - 156 IC-157 OC-152 IC--465 (+35) Khalid Al Jasmi 74-77-78--229 Rashid Hamood 82-80-74--236 Sohail Al Marzouqi 82-82-78--242

T60. Bahrain (BRN) - 154 OC-156 IC-157 IC--467 (+37) Hamad Mubarak 76-76-77--229 Abdulla Sultan 78-80-80--238 Nasser Yacoob 79-81-84--244

T60. Greece (GRE) - 149 OC-159 IC-159 IC--467 (+37) Vasileios Koumpakis 70-76-84--230 Nikolaos Efthymiadis 79-86-78--243 Stamatios Kavadas 79-83-81--243

62. Qatar (QAT) - 153 IC-161 OC-162 IC--476 (+46) Ali Al Shahrani 77-79-79--235 Saleh Al Kaabi 76-82-83--241 Abdul Rahman Al Shahrani 90-82-88--260

63. Ghana (GHA) - 164 OC-162 IC-164 IC--490 (+60) Maxwell Owusu-Bonsu 81-78-78--237 Peter Amenyo 83-84-86--253

64. Ukraine (UKR) - 170 OC-178 IC-165 IC--513 (+83) Artur Badiuk 82-89-84--255 Fedir Karhapolov 88-92-81--261 Emir Priadko 89-89-88--266

65. Gabon (GAB) - 174 OC-176 IC-165 IC--515 (+85) Kevin Aboumi Mouba 88-85-80--253 Thomas Mba Agostino 86-99-85--270 Leon-Paul Lobo 88-91-95--274

66. El Salvador (ESA) - 179 OC-169 IC-171 IC--519 (+89) Gerardo Alvarez 90-84-85--259 Sebastian Bettaglio 89-85-86--260 Ricardo Reyes 100-97-100--297 

67. Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) - 189 OC-186 IC-185 IC--560 (+130) Konstantin Surikov 97-96-85--278 Andrey Sazanov 97-90-103--290 Sergey Kim 92-100-100--292§