Jack Hume fired eight birdies in a six under 66 to help Ireland roar into second place and contention for a medal in the World Amateur Team Championships for the Eisenhower Trophy in Mexico.

While the team led by Tony Goode is 16 strokes behind leaders Australia, who head the 71-nation field on 32 under par, they are not taking anything for granted at Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club.

After watching Paul McBride shoot 69 and Stuart Grehan a discarded 71, team captain Goode said: “It has been a superb performance, they fought hard and Jack’s six-under on the back nine was something very special. 

"Today is moving day and we moved very well so I’m pleased. If we can shoot low tomorrow then you never know.

“We’re not thinking about a medal just yet, there is still a bit of work to do. Tomorrow is the important round, the fourth quarter as they say in American Football, so we’ll have to put something together for the last quarter.

"The boys are up for it, they’re on good form. They are in the right frame of mind so to go out and do their best tomorrow.”

• Scoring, tee times etc
• Team standings
• Individual standings

Hume has gotten better each day, following a 75 with a 70 before lighting up Ireland’s challenge yesterday with a homeward run of six under 30. 

“I played really nice on the back nine, could have better on the front nine, but happy with the performance,” said Hume, who had two bogeys and two birdies in an outward 36.

He began his red hot run with a sand wedge to four feet at the 10th, made further birdies at the 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th and then hit an 8-iron to seven feet at the par-4 18th before rapping home the birdie putt.

“You never know how Australia might go tomorrow,” Hume added. "You just have to focus on your own game and if we can get off to a fast start tomorrow, a strong finish would be a good end to the week.”

Curtis Luck fired a 63 and Cameron Davis added a 68, both bogey-free rounds, and Australia took a nearly insurmountable 16-stroke lead.

Luck, the 2016 U.S. Amateur champion, made nine birdies to match the fourth-lowest round in WATC history and the Australians’ three-round total was one off the championship record set by the USA in 2014. Davis had an opportunity to tie record but missed a 6½-foot birdie putt on the final hole.

“I don’t want to look too far ahead, but it’s exciting to be in the hunt,” said Australian captain Matt Cutler, whose country could win its fourth Eisenhower Trophy and first since 1996. 

“To be quite considerably ahead is a great position to be, but we are excited about the prospect of what could occur.”

Luck, who posted two non-counting scores in the opening two rounds as just two of three-man team scores are used toward the total each day, birdied his first hole when he stuck a 9-iron within two feet.

He later made a 14-foot putt for birdie on No. 8 and converted another one on the next hole for a 5-under 31 on the outward nine. Luck would hit a lob wedge to tap-in-range on No. 10 and birdied both par 5s coming home.

“I had a good day at the office,” said Luck, who became the third Australian to win the U.S. Amateur last month. “I felt like I let the team down a bit yesterday shooting even par and the boys obviously having good scores. It was great to come out, put a good round together and a 63 looks really nice on the scoreboard.”

Davis, who was this year’s Brabazon Trophy runner-up, shot his third consecutive round in the 60s and is the low individual at 14-under for the championship. He had three birdies on the inward nine as his team equaled the third-largest 54-hole lead in WATC annals and matched the second-lowest third-round score (131).

“The guys are all experienced players and could go out there tomorrow without any advice,” said Cutler about looking forward to the final round. “I don’t think you change what has got you here.”

Scottie Scheffler shot a 69 and Maverick McNealy carded a 71 as the USA was one behind Ireland in third place at 15-under 415. The Americans were eight strokes back of Australia to begin the round but failed to keep pace early on. Scheffler rallied his team with birdies on three of his last five holes. He got up and down on the par-5 16th and sank a 20-footer from the fringe on No. 17.

“I just started building some confidence,” said Scheffler, a junior at the University of Texas and who was paired with Luck. “In the beginning of my rounds I am not playing my game and kind of doubting myself. Watching Curtis make so many birdies helped me out a bit. I was watching good shots all day.”

England, Austria and Poland are tied for fourth at 13-under. Alfie Plant, of England, made four of his five birdies on the inward nine in recording a 5-under 67. Scott Gregory, who won the 2016 Amateur Championship at Royal Porthcawl, had a 70.

“It was a nice back nine,” said Plant, who was last year’s English Amateur runner-up. “On the front nine, I wasn’t holing anything and it was quite frustrating. Then the putts starting rolling in and it got better.”

Austria’s Michael Ludwig and Matthias Schwab each shot 3-under 69s. Ludwig’s round included four birdies and three bogeys and an eagle at the par-4 seventh when he holed a 93-yard approach shot from the rough.

“I decided to hit a 3-wood from the tee today and it was a bit too long.” said Ludwig, who used a 58-degree sand wedge to make his eagle. “I pushed it a bit and it was straight on the flag. It pitched and went it on the second bounce and I was really surprised.”

Poland will be searching for its first top-10 World Amateur Team finish in the final round. Adrian Meronk, who is a playing captain, posted an under-par round for the third straight day with a 2-under 70 and Mateuz Gradecki matched that score. The two players are competing in their third WATC together and were teammates at East Tennessee State University.

New Zealand, Norway, Thailand and Spain are tied for seventh at 11-under-par 419. A pair of teenagers are leading the way for Thailand as Kousuke Hamamoto, 17, and Sadom Keawkanjana, 18, each turned in 3-under 69s.

Playing in the morning wave, Canada improved its standing 12 places with an 8-under 136 and is now tied for 11th. Hugo Bernard, the 2016 Canadian Amateur champion, carded a 66, while Garrett Rank, who works as a National Hockey League game official, had a 70. Bernard birdied three of the four par 3s. He struck an 8-iron to within 8 feet at No.8 and hit a three-quarter pitching wedge to set up another birdie at No. 15.

“He’s a wonderful iron player,” said Doug Roxburgh, who has served as the Canadian captain seven times. “I have only seen him hit a couple of irons that were not directly at the pin. He’s a big, strong guy who takes advantage of his length.”

Twenty-nine of the 71 teams had 54-hole scores that were under par. The field recorded 50 sub-par individual counted scores in the third round, the second-highest total in WATC history.

The IGF is the international federation for golf for the International Olympic Committee and conducted the 2016 Olympic golf competition in Rio de Janeiro. 

In each round, the total of the two lowest scores from each team constitutes the team score for the round. The four-day total (72-hole) is the team’s score for the championship.

The teams in the upper half of the scoring will play par-71, 6,771-yard/6,187-meter Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club in the fourth round and the teams in the bottom half will play Iberostar Playa Paraiso.

For complete results, visit www.igfgolf.org.

2016 World Amateur Team Championship

Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club (I) Par-72, 6,988 yards/6,38 metres 

Mayakoba El Camaleon Golf Club (M) Par-71, 6,771 yards/6,187 metres

1.Australia (AUS) - 135 I-132 M-131 I--398 (-32)

  Cameron Davis 67-66-68--201

  Curtis Luck 69-71-63--203

  Harrison Endycott 68-66-73--207

2.Ireland (IRL) - 136 M-143 I-135 I--414 (-16)

  Paul McBride 66-73-69--208

  Jack Hume 75-70-66--211

  Stuart Grehan 70-75-71--216

3.United States of America (USA) - 137 M-138 I-140 I--415 (-15)

  Maverick McNealy 70-69-71--210

  Scottie Scheffler 73-69-69--211

  Brad Dalke 67-72-72--211

T4.Austria (AUT) - 139 M-140 I-138 I--417 (-13)

  Matthias Schwab 67-72-69--208

  Michael Ludwig 72-70-69--211

  Markus Maukner 80-70-74--224

T4.England (ENG) - 139 M-141 I-137 I--417 (-13)

  Alfie Plant 69-72-67--208

  Scott Gregory 70-70-70--210

  Jamie Bower 73-71-75--219

T4.Poland (POL) - 138 I-139 M-140 I--417 (-13)

  Adrian Meronk 66-69-70--205

  Mateusz Gradecki 72-70-70--212

  Jakub Dymecki 78-80-85--243

T7.New Zealand (NZL) - 143 M-138 I-138 I--419 (-11)

  Nick Voke 69-68-72--209

  Luke Toomey 74-70-66--210

  Ryan Chisnall 75-74-76--225

T7.Norway (NOR) - 141 I-139 M-139 I--419 (-11)

  Kristoffer Ventura 70-69-69--208

  Viktor Hovland 71-70-70--211

  Knud Krokeide 74-78-80--232

T7.Spain (ESP) - 136 I-145 M-138 I--419 (-11)

  Manuel Elvira 69-71-70--210

  Ivan Cantero 71-74-68--213

  Mario Galiano 67-74-76--217

T7.Thailand (THA) - 138 I-143 M-138 I--419 (-11)

  Kousuke Hamamoto 69-71-69--209

  Sadom Keawkanjana 69-72-69--210

  Witchayanon Chothirunrungrueng 76-76-72--224

T11.Canada (CAN) - 144 I-140 M-136 I--420 (-10)

  Hugo Bernard 73-70-66--209

  Garrett Rank 74-72-70--216

  Jared du Toit 71-70-75--216

T11.Switzerland (SUI) - 139 I-137 M-144 I--420 (-10)

  Jeremy Freiburghaus 68-68-75--211

  Mathias Eggenberger 71-69-73--213

  Marco Iten 72-76-71--219

13.Scotland (SCO) - 134 I-144 M-143 I--421 (-9)

  Grant Forrest 68-73-71--212

  Robert MacIntyre 69-71-72--212

  Connor Syme 66-73-78--217

T14.Denmark (DEN) - 143 M-139 I-140 I--422 (-8)

  Marcus Helligkilde 73-67-68--208

  John Axelsen 70-75-72--217

  Peter Launer Baek 73-72-73--218

T14.Mexico (MEX) - 141 M-140 I-141 I--422 (-8)

  Alvaro Ortiz 74-65-72--211

  Isidro Benitez 70-75-69--214

  Luis Gerardo Garza 71-77-72--220

T16.Argentina (ARG) - 142 I-142 M-139 I--423 (-7)

  Alejandro Tosti 71-68-67--206

  Gaston Bertinotti 72-74-72--218

  Andres Gallegos 71-75-79--225

T16.France (FRA) - 139 I-142 M-142 I--423 (-7)

  Ugo Coussaud 70-69-67--206

  Jeremy Gandon 69-74-76--219

  Antoine Rozner 73-73-75--221

T16.Sweden (SWE) - 139 M-142 I-142 I--423 (-7)

  Fredrik Nilehn 68-71-71--210

  Robin Petersson 71-71-74--216

  Hannes Ronneblad 71-74-71--216

T19.Germany (GER) - 147 I-137 M-140 I--424 (-6)

  Hurly Long 76-68-70--214

  Max Schmitt 75-69-70--214

  Jeremy Paul 72-69-74--215

T19.Japan (JPN) - 139 I-144 M-141 I--424 (-6)

  Kazuki Higa 67-71-75--213

  Junya Kameshiro 75-73-68--216

  Takumi Kanaya 72-73-73--218

T21.Colombia (COL) - 142 I-138 M-145 I--425 (-5)

  Nicolas Echavarria 72-68-72--212

  Mateo Gomez Villegas 70-70-73--213

  Santiago Gomez 72-76-74--222

T21.Republic of Korea (KOR) - 145 M-139 I-141 I--425 (-5)

  Sung ho Yun 73-66-69--208

  Seung bo Jang 74-73-72--219

  Je chang Ryu 72-75-73--220

T23.Iceland (ISL) - 141 M-142 I-143 I--426 (-4)

  Gudmundur Kristjansson 70-72-71--213

  Haraldur Magnus 76-70-72--218

  Andri Bjornsson 71-75-74--220

T23.Peru (PER) - 142 I-142 M-142 I--426 (-4)

  Felipe Strobach 72-70-71--213

  Luis Fernando Barco 73-72-71--216

  Julian Perico 70-77-79--226

T25.Chinese Taipei (TPE) - 140 M-140 I-147 I--427 (-3)

  Chun-An Yu 70-67-73--210

  Yu-Chen Yeh 70-73-74--217

  Wei-Hsiang Wang 76-79-76--231

T25.Netherlands (NED) - 145 M-138 I-144 I--427 (-3)

  Vince van Veen 71-69-75--215

  Lars van Meijel 74-73-70--217

  Rowin Caron 81-69-74--224

T25.Venezuela (VEN) - 143 M-143 I-141 I--427 (-3)

  Jorge Garcia 69-68-71--208

  Manuel Torres 76-75-70--221

  George Trujillo 74-77-80--231

T25.Wales (WAL) - 144 M-143 I-140 I--427 (-3)

  David Boote 69-73-68--210

  Owen Edwards 76-70-72--218

  Josh Davies 75-79-73--227

29.Singapore (SGP) - 146 M-135 I-147 I--428 (-2)

  Gregory Foo 70-70-72--212

  Joshua Ho 76-65-78--219

  Joshua Shou 76-73-75--224

T30.Brazil (BRA) - 143 M-142 I-148 I--433 (+3)

  Herik Machado 70-70-75--215

  Daniel Kenji Ishii 73-72-73--218

  Gustavo Chuang 73-75-79--227

T30.Morocco (MAR) - 140 M-148 I-145 I--433 (+3)

  Ayoub Id-Omar 72-72-72--216

  Yassine Touhami 68-76-76--220

  Ayoub Lguirati 77-83-73--233

T30.South Africa (RSA) - 141 M-144 I-148 I--433 (+3)

  Jovan Rebula 70-70-76--216

  Dylan Naidoo 75-74-72--221

  Marco Steyn 71-74-79--224

T33.Chile (CHI) - 149 M-146 I-139 M--434 (+6)

  Joaquin Niemann 71-73-71--215

  Claudio Correa 78-73-68--219

  Carlos Bustos 83-81-80--244

T33.Hong Kong, China (HKG) - 148 M-144 I-142 M--434 (+6)

  Terrence Ng 75-73-67--215

  Matthew Cheung 74-71-75--220

  Leon Philip D'Souza 74-77-77--228

T33.Italy (ITA) - 141 M-145 I-150 I--436 (+6)

  Guido Migliozzi 74-76-70--220

  Stefano Mazzoli 67-71-89--227

  Luca Cianchetti 75-74-80--229

T36.Guatemala (GUA) - 146 M-145 I-146 I--437 (+7)

  Alejandro Villavicencio 72-74-75--221

  Sebastian Barnoya 79-71-71--221

  Pablo Castellanos 74-82-85--241

T36.India (IND) - 147 M-144 I-146 I--437 (+7)

  Aalaap Indira Lakshminarayana 73-75-69--217

  Arjun Prasad 74-71-78--223

  Kshitij Naveed Kaul 76-73-77--226

38.Finland (FIN) - 141 M-151 I-145 M--437 (+9)

  Kim Koivu 71-77-73--221

  Juuso Kahlos 70-74-77--221

  Ilari Saulo 75-77-72--224

T39.Uruguay (URU) - 145 I-152 M-141 M--438 (+10)

  Juan Alvarez 68-72-71--211

  Agustin Tarigo 77-82-70--229

  Nicholas Teuten 77-80-79--236

T39.Zimbabwe (ZIM) - 144 M-148 I-146 M--438 (+10)

  Kieran Vincent 69-71-75--215

  Benjamin Follett-Smith 76-77-71--224

  David Amm 75-79-81--235

41.Dominican Republic (DOM) - 139 M-155 I-145 M--439 (+11)

  Juan Guerra 68-79-70--217

  Rhadames Pena 71-79-76--226

  Enrique Valverde 78-76-75--229

42.Portugal (POR) - 140 M-144 I-158 I--442 (+12)

  Tomas Silva 69-71-77--217

  Pedro Lencart Silva 71-73-81--225

  Vitor Londot Lopes 71-76-82--229

T43.Czech Republic (CZE) - 142 M-152 I-147 M--441 (+13)

  Vitek Novak 76-75-71--222

  Simon Zach 69-77-76--222

  Matyas Zapletal 73-77-76--226

T43.Peoples Republic of China (CHN) - 146 I-147 M-148 M--441 (+13)

  Zihong Zhang 71-84-70--225

  Junbin Zhang 79-71-79--229

  Yilong Chen 75-76-78--229

T45.Ecuador (ECU) - 150 M-149 I-143 M--442 (+14)

  Rafael Miranda 75-74-71--220

  Juan Miguel Heredia 75-75-72--222

  Jose Miranda 77-75-73--225

T45.Puerto Rico (PUR) - 146 I-148 M-148 M--442 (+14)

  Daniel Caban 71-74-74--219

  Erick Juan Morales 75-74-74--223

  Max Alverio 81-74-74--229

47.Guam (GUM) - 146 M-152 I-145 M--443 (+15)

  Devin Hua 71-74-72--217

  Redge Camacho 75-78-73--226

  Nalapon Vongjalorn 82-80-80--242

48.Slovakia (SVK) - 149 M-148 I-147 M--444 (+16)

  Adam Puchmelter 73-74-69--216

  Michal Brezovsky 76-74-78--228

  Jakub Hrinda 87-WD-WD--WD

49.Bermuda (BER) - 152 I-146 M-152 M--450 (+22)

  Jarryd Dillas 77-74-73--224

  Mark Phillips 75-74-82--231

  Eric West 80-72-79--231

50.Turkey (TUR) - 151 I-150 M-152 M--453 (+25)

  Ali Altuntas 71-75-73--219

  Alihan Afsar 85-75-79--239

  Leon Acikalin 80-80-82--242

51.Belgium (BEL) - 152 M-152 I-150 M--454 (+26)

  Adrien Dumont de Chassart 75-76-74--225

  Alan De Bondt 77-76-76--229

  Kristof Ulenaers 80-80-78--238

52.Croatia (CRO) - 156 I-143 M-158 M--457 (+29)

  Ivan Vucemil 75-71-86--232

  Adam Brnic 93-72-75--240

  Luka Karaula 81-80-83--244

53.Slovenia (SLO) - 149 M-156 I-154 M--459 (+31)

  Zan Luka Stirn 74-75-79--228

  Mark Trnovec 75-85-75--235

  Luka Naglic 78-81-79--238

54.Egypt (EGY) - 151 I-156 M-154 M--461 (+33)

  Issa Abouelela 71-74-70--215

  Gougou Abdeltawab 91-82-84--257

  Dean Naime 80-84-WD--WD

T55.Costa Rica (CRC) - 157 M-152 I-154 M--463 (+35)

  Paul Chaplet 79-78-73--230

  Jose Mendez 79-74-81--234

  Manuel Jimenez 78-88-85--251

T55.Serbia (SRB) - 150 I-162 M-151 M--463 (+35)

  Branimir Gudelj 73-79-81--233

  Mihailo Dimitrijevic 77-84-76--237

  Ranko Helc 80-83-75--238

57.Jamaica (JAM) - 162 M-150 I-152 M--464 (+36)

  Sean Morris 78-73-87--238

  Jonathan Newnham 84-77-79--240

  Ian Facey 86-85-73--244

58.Qatar (QAT) - 153 M-159 I-153 M--465 (+37)

  Saleh Al Kaabi 71-79-77--227

  Ali Al Shahrani 82-81-76--239

  Abdulrahman Al Shahrani 90-80-91--261

59.Panama (PAN) - 155 I-154 M-157 M--466 (+38)

  Paolo Cargiulo 78-82-74--234

  Luis Cargiulo 83-72-85--240

  Jose Guillermo Lewis 77-83-83--243

60.Cayman Islands (CAY) - 156 I-153 M-159 M--468 (+40)

  Michael Wight 74-80-79--233

  Payten Wight 82-78-80--240

  Andrew Jarvis 87-75-81--243

61.Mauritius (MRI) - 160 I-158 M-155 M--473 (+45)

  Rakesh Channoo 79-79-79--237

  Phil Minkley 86-79-76--241

  Ian Espitalier Noel 81-89-82--252

62.El Salvador (ESA) - 156 I-167 M-152 M--475 (+47)

  Rodrigo Sol 78-81-75--234

  Tino Flores 82-86-77--245

  Bobby Moore 78-88-89--255

63.Greece (GRE) - 162 I-158 M-157 M--477 (+49)

  Panagiotis Pantazopoulos 83-77-77--237

  Dimitrios Rokadakis 79-81-80--240

  Panagiotis Samakovlis 89-84-83--256

64.Kenya (KEN) - 158 I-155 M-165 M--478 (+50)

  Sujan Shah 80-75-84--239

  Neer Chandaria 81-80-82--243

  Bo Gatundu 78-83-83--244

65.United Arab Emirates (UAE) - 158 I-160 M-161 M--479 (+51)

  Ahmad Skaik 78-82-81--241

  Saif Thabet 86-78-80--244

  Rashid Hamood 80-89-81--250

66.Malta (MLT) - 165 I-166 M-158 M--489 (+61)

  Jay Jay Micallef 80-81-78--239

  Andy Borg 85-85-80--250

  Christian Brown 85-86-81--252

67.Bulgaria (BUL) - 161 I-170 M-159 M--490 (+62)

  Vladi Marinov 85-84-75--244

  Asen Mihaylov 77-87-88--252

  Ryan Staykov 84-86-84--254

68.Republic of Moldova (MDA) - 165 I-162 M-165 M--492 (+64)

  Aleksei Koika 79-77-76--232

  Dennis Volostnykh 86-86-89--261

  Artiom Podgainii 95-85-98--278

69.Haiti (HAI) - 176 I-167 M-178 M--521 (+93)

  Jean-Philippe Mehu 81-77-82--240

  Pierre-Antoine Donte 95-100-96--291

  Maurice Pasha Brandt 99-90-108--297

70.Kazakhstan (KAZ) - 189 I-172 M-190 M--551 (+123)

  Baurzhan Sarkytbayev 92-85-95--272

  Yerbolat Ospanov 97-87-95--279

  Yerbol Bukharbayev 103-94-100--297

71.Armenia (ARM) - 206 I-221 M-208 M--635 (+207)

  Levon Karakhanyan 86-94-97--277

  Karen Hovhannisyan 120-127-111--358