Paul Dunne's iron play clicked back into gear as he shot a seven-under 64 to take a one-shot lead over Padraig Harrington, Justin Rose and Thorbjorn Olesen in the Turkish Airlines Open.

Out of sorts with his ball striking since the start of the summer, the Greystones star (25) rolled in a slick, right to left breaking 30-footer on his final hole for his lowest round since he opened with a 64 in the Houston Open in April

It could have been even more special for Dunne, who left a string of putts short in the jaws at the Regnum Carya Golf & Spa Resort in Belek.

But he could also point to some scintillating short gameplay at times and it was little wonder he was beaming from ear to ear on a day when Ryder Cup captain in-waiting Harrington shot 65 to finish alongside Rose and Olesen on six-under, and Shane Lowry birdied the last for three-under 68 and a share of 20th.

"My iron play was pretty good," Dunne said. "I think the biggest thing I did out there was on the three or four difficult tee shots, I hit really good tee shots, and apart from that, the ones I leaked a little bit were on holes you could get away with it, and you could make birdie still from the rough.

"That's what I was pleased with, the holes I needed to hit a good shot on, I stepped up and hit a really straight one.

"Yeah, I left a few putts short out there, but I think we can always say that. A few short in the middle but I'll take it."

Dunne took a week off to work on his game with his US-based coach Eric Eshelman after a disappointing defence of the British Masters and came home feeling he was finally getting a good strike on the ball.

"To be honest, I just haven't been hitting the ball very well," Dunne said. "My putting is okay. Kind of drove it the same. Lost my iron play a little bit. Stopped giving myself chances with medium to short irons.

"I just scrambled for par for three months really. Nice to see a bit of form, post a good score and get a bogey-free round on the card."

Ranked 54th in the Race to Dubai and 105th in the world, he knows a win could change the complexion of his season and next year, but he's just focussing on one round at a time.

"I'd like to give myself a chance to win one or a couple of them or something like that," he said of his goals for the final three events of the Race to Dubai.

"This is a course I saw for the first time last year, and I like it. Sets up nicely for me. Had a couple weeks' practise before, and was hoping to give it a hundred and hopefully I can build on this."

Harrington got off to a lightning start, picking up birdies at the first, second, third and fifth and admitted he left a lot of shots on the course despite recovering from a bogey at the seventh with birdies at the ninth, 12th and 13th.

After missing from no more than five feet from the shadows for a birdie and a share of the lead at the 18th, he said: "Even the birdies I made were all pretty short - eight-footers, six-footers.

"I had a few chances there at the end too - on 14 and 18. It could have been quite low."

Aggressive off the tee, leaving himself short irons into many holes, he gave himself multiple chances, and after three top 10s from his last six starts, he's feeling good about his game.

"I have been in decent form now since mid-summer onwards. I have been disappointed with some erratic putting over the last couple of weeks but I have certainly got my head in the game, and I am working on the right things.

"I need to be out on the course playing with a card in hand, and I see good things."

As for the Ryder Cup captaincy and the litany of questions he now faces, Harrington said: "It really is very difficult. I don't want to put a spanner in the works, and I don't want to be cocky and conceited. And yet the questions keep coming back to it.

"I've said my name's in the hat and really I should make a one-line statement but that's not me. When it happens, we'll see. It's tough to talk about. Let's talk about Thomas' Ryder Cup. That's a better one to talk about. We will leave the next one the next until they decide."

Defending champion Rose holed his approach for an eagle two at the fourth before picking up four more shots in an immaculate 65 that was just the start he needed to chase a win that would put him back at world No 1.

" I didn't drive it particularly well today but my iron play was good," Rose said. "I holed out, obviously on No. 4, which got things going, obviously and made a birdie off the back of that and so 3-under through five, I felt like I was up and running. That was a nice stroke of fortune I guess and really started the day nicely.

He added: "Today, never had to press anything in my round. Had a little frustrating period around 11, 12, 13, 14, where I had chances that slipped by.

"Knew I was getting frustrated at that point in the round and tried to see if I could grab a couple birdies coming in which I did and nice to sign off with a nice three at the last."