Graeme McDowell got to within nine of playing partner and leader Tyrell Hatton with a  67 but it was Paul Dunne who made the important Irish move in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

As Hatton equalled the course record with a 62 around the Old Course at St Andrews to lead by three strokes on 14 under par from Ross Fisher, McDowell moved up to 12th as Dunne made what could prove to be his most valuable cut of the year.

The Greystones rookie is 110th in the Race to Dubai and with only the top 110 before the Final Series keeping their cards, his six under 66 at Kingsbarns for a 63-place move to joint 22nd might be worth its weight in gold.

After a few disappointing final rounds in recent months, it will become even more valuable on Sunday at St Andrews if he can shoot another round in the 60s and make the Top 35 finish he probably needs to secure his card for 2017 while a top five finish would put him in the mix for a place in the Final Series.

Shane Lowry looked likely to shoot a low round after he birdied the first and holed his second for an eagle two at the second old the Old Course. But four bogeys and just two birdies in that six-hole stretch from the fifth to the 10th killed him and he then bogeyed the 16th to post a 72.

With the cut falling at three over par, Lowry made it with just one stroke to spare. But there was to be no luck for Pádraig Harrington, whose one under 71 at the Old Course left him a shot off the pace.

Cormac Sharvin missed the cut by four shots on level par despite his 68 at Kingsbarns with Jack Hume two shots further back on his professional debut.

The Naas man posted a level par 72 at Carnoustie where Michael Hoey shot 74 to end the week on three over.

Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley shot 72 at Kingsbarns to end the week on four over.

Hatton, meanwhile, will go in search of a maiden European Tour title after a stunning third round of 62 – the lowest of his burgeoning career – earned him a three-shot lead over his compatriot Fisher. 

Six birdies before the turn and four more after gave the 25 year old some breathing space at the top of the leaderboard, but with Martin Kaymer amongst the chasing pack on 12 under par after a round of 65, Hatton may have to repeat his heroics if he is to succeed Thorbjørn Olesen as champion.

Fisher, who recently lost a play-off in the Porsche European Open, shot a solid 69 at Carnoustie to maintain his fine form, while Richard Sterne and Joakim Lagergren are also in the hunt on 13 under par after they shot respective rounds of 65 and 69 at St Andrews.

Marc Warren is the leading Scot on 11 under par, whilst Florian Fritsch posted a 65, the lowest round of the day at Carnoustie, to join his fellow German Kaymer in a share of fifth place.  

Hatton and his amateur partner, actor Jamie Dornan, are two shots off the pace in the Pro-Am competition, which is led by Poland’s Adrian Meronk – making his professional debut – and Johan Eliasch, Chairman and CEO of global sporting goods group Head N.V.

Tyrrell Hatton

“It’s quite clearly the best round I’ve ever had. I’ve never got to double digits under par before, so I’m very pleased with that. Obviously I’d love to get a win so I’ll try my best tomorrow. It’s been a really consistent year so far, and it would be nice to have a good finish to the season. The Old Course hasn’t generally been too kind to me in the past, but hopefully I can have another good day here tomorrow.

“I putted really well again today. That was the big thing. I just kept the momentum going by holing some good birdie putts, and I holed a couple of good par putts as well. That kept things going, and I’m obviously really happy with the finish.”

Ross Fisher

“It was decent. You never know what you’re going to get when you turn up here. We were all hoping for Car-nicety and not Car-nasty, and we got it. It was a beautiful day to play this place, what a golf course in this condition.

“Conditions were pretty benign, there wasn’t much breeze. But it was still tricky out there, it was very firm and very fiery. But overall, I felt pretty pleased with the round. There were a couple of scrappy shots, and maybe I left a couple of putts out there, but all in all, I can’t complain. To shoot in the 60s for the third day running, I’m obviously very, very pleased.

Martin Kaymer

(On playing with his father) “He’s never experienced the final round at St Andrews before, so I think the most important thing is that we have a good time out there tomorrow as a family. I don’t know how much longer we can still play together, because you never know what will happen. We have to be realistic because we don’t really have a chance to win in the team event, but if we can squeeze in the top ten, that would be an amazing achievement.”

Round Three Scores

Pro-Am standings

199 T Hatton (Eng) 67 70 62,

202 R Fisher (Eng) 65 68 69,

203 R Sterne (RSA) 69 69 65, J Lagergren (Swe) 66 68 69,

204 M Kaymer (Ger) 71 68 65, F Fritsch (Ger) 68 71 65,

205 M Warren (Sco) 72 66 67,

206 L Jensen (Den) 71 69 66, S Kjeldsen (Den) 71 68 67,

207 D Horsey (Eng) 72 69 66, R Paratore (Ita) 71 70 66,

208 R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 70 70 68, B Virto (Esp) 71 69 68, B Wiesberger (Aut) 73 66 69, J Zunic (Aus) 70 71 67, A Noren (Swe) 64 71 73, Graeme McDowell (Nir) 74 67 67,

 209 N Fasth (Swe) 72 69 68, T Fleetwood (Eng) 72 67 70, B Dredge (Wal) 69 72 68, R Bland (Eng) 70 69 70,

210 J Quesne (Fra) 72 69 69, A Wall (Eng) 71 69 70, G Coetzee (RSA) 72 69 69, C Shinkwin (Eng) 67 74 69, J Ahlers (RSA) 70 71 69, L Oosthuizen (RSA) 71 71 68, P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 73 66, A Dodt (Aus) 70 70 70, Paul Dunne (Irl) 72 72 66,

211 M Ilonen (Fin) 73 71 67, R Karlsson (Swe) 71 71 69, T Van Der Walt (RSA) 74 70 67, T Pieters (Bel) 70 68 73, J Kruger (RSA) 68 68 75, A Cañizares (Esp) 68 72 71, R Dinwiddie (Eng) 73 68 70, R Karlberg (Swe) 68 71 72, R Rock (Eng) 70 73 68, G Forrest (Sco) 73 72 66, P Hanson (Swe) 71 69 71, N Colsaerts (Bel) 71 70 70, C Lee (Sco) 69 73 69,

212 M Guyatt (Aus) 69 74 69, J Morrison (Eng) 71 74 67, Shane Lowry (Irl) 72 68 72, R Wattel (Fra) 78 66 68, G Storm (Eng) 71 72 69, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 72 68, M Siem (Ger) 77 68 67, M Ford (Eng) 66 72 74, U Van Den Berg (RSA) 69 69 74,

213 B Evans (Eng) 72 70 71, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 75 68, G Bourdy (Fra) 69 74 70, T Olesen (Den) 73 72 68, Y Yang (Kor) 71 69 73, R West (RSA) 69 73 71, G Havret (Fra) 76 67 70, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 73 66 74, F Zanotti (Par) 72 70 71, E Van Rooyen (RSA) 72 69 72,

CUT

214 O Fisher (Eng) 73 73 68, K Broberg (Swe) 74 70 70, A McArthur (Sco) 70 70 74, J Winther (Den) 74 69 71, J McLeary (Sco) 71 74 69, C Stroud (USA) 70 71 73, L Canter (Eng) 72 72 70, R Ramsay (Sco) 70 71 73, R McEvoy (Eng) 73 69 72, E De La Riva (Esp) 71 70 73, S Jamieson (Sco) 67 75 72, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 70 73 71, A Levy (Fra) 73 71 70, A Johnston (Eng) 71 70 73, L Slattery (Eng) 70 76 68,

215 J Hugo (RSA) 70 79 66, P Edberg (Swe) 74 72 69, S Khan (Eng) 71 71 73, E Molinari (Ita) 69 77 69, M Bremner (RSA) 73 68 74, E Pepperell (Eng) 68 75 72, F Laporta (Ita) 75 69 71, P Waring (Eng) 71 72 72, J Parry (Eng) 74 72 69, P Peterson (USA) 70 70 75,

216 G Stal (Fra) 74 74 68, S Dyson (Eng) 75 71 70, Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 75 73 68, R Davies (Wal) 74 68 74, N Elvira (Esp) 77 70 69, A Otaegui (Esp) 70 75 71, M Carlsson (Swe) 73 72 71, D Lipsky (USA) 73 76 67, C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 74 75 67, R Evans (Eng) 73 76 67, S Webster (Eng) 72 76 68,

217 J Carlsson (Swe) 75 71 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 73 75 69, A Wu (Chn) 74 70 73, D Brooks (Eng) 69 75 73, C Paisley (Eng) 71 72 74, D Burmester (RSA) 71 73 73, T Lewis (Eng) 74 72 71,

218 M Baldwin (Eng) 75 74 69, R Jacquelin (Fra) 67 80 71, M Madsen (Den) 73 74 71, Jack Hume (Irl) 74 72 72, J Luiten (Ned) 75 72 71, B Rumford (Aus) 74 74 70, N Dougherty (Eng) 73 72 73, E Ferguson (Sco) 74 73 71, P Meesawat (Tha) 70 71 77, S Lee (Kor) 73 73 72, R Lee (Can) 71 75 72,

219 M Fitzpatrick (Eng) 77 73 69, F Aguilar (Chi) 74 73 72, J Campillo (Esp) 76 74 69, T Linard (Fra) 74 74 71, Michael Hoey (Nir) 69 76 74, S O'Hair (USA) 76 73 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 73 73 73, K Mueck (Aus) 73 72 74, H Porteous (RSA) 75 74 70, J Hansen (Den) 70 68 81, B Grace (RSA) 73 75 71, A Meronk (Pol) 72 80 67,

220 M Southgate (Eng) 78 70 72, Paul McGinley (Irl) 72 79 69, D Valente (Aus) 75 78 67, M Manassero (Ita) 73 76 71, M Millar (Aus) 77 74 69, R Gouveia (Por) 76 76 68, A Quiros (Esp) 80 70 70,

221 R Kakko (Fin) 80 74 67, C Berardo (Fra) 79 70 72, B Åkesson (Swe) 77 72 72, D Im (USA) 70 78 73, B Hebert (Fra) 74 73 74, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 74 74, N Holman (Aus) 69 77 75,

222 C Hanson (Eng) 74 79 69, T Immelman (RSA) 77 73 72, D Willett (Eng) 73 73 76, N Bertasio (Ita) 74 70 78, R Green (Aus) 71 73 78, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 75 73 74,

223 D Dixon (Eng) 75 75 73, D Bransdon (Aus) 69 76 78, T Merritt (USA) 72 73 78, O Bekker (RSA) 77 74 72,

224 J Blaauw (RSA) 74 77 73,

225 B Stone (RSA) 75 75 75, M Goggin (Aus) 80 75 70, G Boyd (Eng) 76 74 75, L Bjerregaard (Den) 73 75 77,

226 L Westwood (Eng) 75 82 69, N Srithong (Tha) 74 76 76,

227 E España (Fra) 72 73 82,

228 J Walters (RSA) 72 79 77, J Fahrbring (Swe) 77 76 75,

229 O Wilson (Eng) 76 76 77,

230 Z Blair (USA) 72 81 77, J Jeong (Kor) 72 74 84,

** S Gros (Fra) 77 75 DQ, J Donaldson (Wal) 71 79 WD, D Howell (Eng) RT