Irish playing catch up at Galgorm Castle

Scott Henry. Picture Matt Mackey/Press Eye

Cormac Sharvin goes into the final round six shots off the lead at the Galgorm Resort and Spa NI Open, presented by Modest! Golf. 

He shot a level par 71 in the third round as Scott Henry and Victor Perez shone brightest on a day of low scoring that saw Old Conna's Neil O'Brian record a hole-in-one.

"It was class," said O'Briain, who holed an eight-iron from 160 yards at the seventh in a 74 that left him 18 shots off the lead. 

"The other lads who were up before me hit good eight irons so I stepped up and did the same. It drifted in off the wind and looked like it was going to be stiff but I didn’t expect it to go in.
 
"We saw it disappear into the hole and at first part of you thinks ‘did that really just go in?’ But we heard the crowd by the green cheering and after that we were certain.
 
"It’s my second hole-in-one in a professional tournament and it was great to do it on home soil – a great bonus for my round today."

Sharvin made four birdies and four bogeys in his 71 and felt he had to shoot 10 under on Sunday to have a chance.

"I’m still in contention," he said. "I could very easily have shot my way out of the tournament on that back nine. Glad I hung in there and limited the damage on the way in...

"We all know in this game anything can happen. If you play well there is a low one out there. Hopefully, that will be me tomorrow, we’ll see."

Scotland’s Henry carded eight birdies and a solitary bogey in 64 and set the clubhouse target at 16 under par before Perez dropped just one shot to sign for a 65 to join Henry at the top of the leaderboard.

With both Mark Flindt Haastrup and Stuart Manley just one shot back, Henry knows the competition will be fierce tomorrow, and with his last European Challenge Tour victory coming at the 2012 Kazakhstan Open admits another triumph this week would be special.

“It would mean a lot to win here as it feels like a home event,” he said. “It has been a long time since I won and tomorrow is going to be a long day but at least knowing that I have done it before is going to stand me in good stead.

Sharvin remains the leading Irish player, two ahead of Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy (67) and Clandeboye’s Jonny Caldwell (71) on eight under. 

"My main goal start of the week was top 5," McElroy said. "Two four-unders puts me back in it. I know I need to shoot 7-8 under tomorrow to get top 5. More than capable of shooting 7, 8, 9, 10 under tomorrow. Just need to get the putter going early, keep the momentum going.   

"I still missed a lot of chances on the back nine today, could have gone even lower. The bogey at 17 was bit of a kick in the teeth."

Michael McGeady is nine shots back and enjoying his week.

"I’m under no pressure here this week," he said. "If I can finish up the field then great. Keep doing what I’m doing. Know I can’t hit the ball as far as half these guys out here. 

"I was with a guy today who was 50 yards outside me off the tee. His game’s completely different to mine so you have to stick to your own plan, hit fairway and greens and take your chances.

"I've just come out of my three years PGA training so I am now teaching at Letterkenny Driving Range in Donegal. Enjoying it, still love playing. I try to balance the two. It works pretty well."

Scores after Round Three: (Irish players in bold)

197 V Perez (Fra) 68 64 65, S Henry (Sco) 67 66 64, 

198 S Manley (Wal) 64 68 66, M Haastrup (Den) 66 66 66, 

200 M Kim (Kor) 64 67 69, 

201 C Hill (Sco) 66 67 68, R Kellett (Sco) 67 66 68, 

203 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 67 65 71, C Del Moral (Esp) 70 68 65, R Saxton (Ned) 69 68 66, R Enoch (Wal) 70 67 66, 

204 B Easton (RSA) 70 69 65, J Singh Brar (Eng) 69 71 64, E Ferguson (Sco) 69 66 69, 

205 D Perrier (Fra) 69 71 65, Dermot McElroy (Nir) 71 67 67, L Van Meijel (Ned) 68 66 71, Jonny Caldwell (Nir) 68 66 71, D Stewart (Sco) 68 68 69, 

206 R Finch (Eng) 65 73 68, Michael McGeady (Irl) 71 68 67, V Østerby (Den) 65 71 70, 

207 M Armitage (Eng) 65 72 70, E España (Fra) 67 70 70, W Besseling (Ned) 69 71 67, F Laporta (Ita) 70 66 71, R De Sousa (Sui) 73 68 66, 

208 J Kunzenbacher (Ger) 74 67 67, J McDonald (Sco) 70 67 71, J White (Eng) 69 70 69, M Carlsson (Swe) 67 75 66, B Stow (Eng) 67 70 71, M Gaspar (Por) 68 69 71, J Girrbach (Sui) 72 70 66, R McGowan (Eng) 68 71 69, M Schneider (Ger) 69 71 68,

209 J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 69 73 67, I Cantero Gutierrez (Esp) 70 71 68, H Joannes (Bel) 70 71 68, R Van West (Ned) 71 70 68, A Knappe (Ger) 69 72 68, C Braeunig (Ger) 68 72 69, T Murray (Eng) 72 68 69, J Huldahl (Den) 68 73 68, Chris Selfridge (Nir) 72 69 68, 

210 M Lampert (Ger) 70 70 70, A Velasco (Esp) 73 68 69, S Hutsby (Eng) 68 72 70, S Dyson (Eng) 72 69 69, J McLeary (Sco) 70 69 71, 

211 S Locke (Sco) 68 71 72, F Palson (Swe) 73 69 69, J Senior (Eng) 66 75 70, D Huizing (Ned) 68 74 69, N Møller (Den) 71 71 69, M Orrin (Eng) 68 74 69, M Galiano Aguilar (Esp) 70 71 70, S Einhaus (Ger) 71 71 69, J Doherty (Sco) 71 71 69, 

212 M Schmitt (Ger) 71 71 70, R Roussel (Fra) 71 71 70, B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 70 71, B Parker (Eng) 71 67 74, Niall Kearney (Irl) 72 70 70, 

213 L Ruuska (Fin) 71 69 73, 

214 B Hellgren (Swe) 73 69 72, Kevin Phelan (Irl) 72 68 74

215 C Tarren (Eng) 69 72 74, Neil O'Briain (Irl) 71 70 74, J Brun (Fra) 68 73 74, 

216 Conor O'Rourke (Irl) 71 71 74, R Langasque (Fra) 69 73 74.