McLarnon challenging in Portugal; Mulligan five back; Yates lurking

Massereene's Tiarnan McLarnon. Picture by Pat Cashman

Massereene's Tiarnan McLarnon is just three shots off the lead with a round to play in the Portuguese International Amateur Championship near Lisbon.

The 2015 Irish Close champion made four birdies in a two-under par 70 to share second place with England's Bailey Gill and Spain's Adria Arnaus on five-under-par at Montado Golf Resort.

England's Joshua McMahon birdied the 18th for a level par 72 to lead from McLarnon, Gill and Arnaus after Morocco's Ayoub Id Omar, initially ranked second, was disqualified.

Laytown and Bettystown's Thomas Mulligan came back well from a triple bogey seven at the first to shoot one over 73 for a share of seventh on three-under-par.

Naas Jonathan Yates is tied 23rd on one-over after a bogey-free 70 and with bad weather forecast, he's hoping his West of Ireland experience will stand to him and he can post a decent target for the leaders.

"It was nice to go bogey-free and I just need to get the putter hot tomorrow," Yates said. "Tee to green it's been excellent but not much is happening on the greens. 

"The conditions are forecast to be atrocious tomorrow so I'm looking to post a number and see what happens."

The cut fell at four-over-par 220 which meant an early exit for Moate's Paul Coughlan (76) on 224 and Newlands' Jake Whelan (79) on 238.

Portuguese International Amateur Championship, Montado (Par 72)

Detailed scores | Draw

1 Joshua McMahon ENG -8 208 69 67 72

2 Bailey Gill ENG -5 211 74 70 67
3 Tiarnan McLarnon IRL -5 211 69 72 70 
4 Adria Arnaus ESP -5 211 68 71 72
5 Gian-Marco Petrozzi ENG -4 212 71 69 72
6 Marcus Hansen DEN -4 212 69 68 75
7 Sami Välimäki FIN -3 213 72 70 71
8 Martijn Horters NED -3 213 70 72 71
9 Thomas Mulligan IRL -3 213 69 71 73
22 Jonathan Yates IRL +1 217 74 73 70

CUT

56 Paul Coughlan IRL +8 224 76 72 76
112 Jake Whelan IRL +22 238 79 80 79