Rory lurking as Meadow and Power start firing

Bernd Wiesberger. Picture: Getty

West Waterford’s Seamus Power produced a blistering finish to move within touching distance of the top-10 in the John Deere Classic in Illinois.

One-under for the day and three-under for the tournament with five holes to play at TPC Deere Run, he chipped in from 16 feet for an eagle two after a 374-yard drive at the 14th, made a 17 footer for par at the next, then birdied the last three holes (6ft, 10ft, 9ft) to card a six-under 65. Scores

At eight-under par, Power is tied for 11th place, just five strokes behind Venezuela’s Jhonattan Vegas, who shot a nine-under 62 to lead by a shot from Andrew Landry on 13-under in the race for the title and a spot in The Open at Royal Portrush.

If the tournament were to end now, Power would move up eight spots to 120th in the FedExCup standings.

In Europe., Rory McIlroy hopes to "creep up" on the leaders with one of his trademark weekend charges in the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.

The world number three shot a second successive 67 to share 30th on eight under par at the Renaissance Club and still fancies his chances.

Just six shots behind South Africa's Erik Van Rooyen, England's Lee Slattery and Bernd Wiesberger — who fired 10-under 61 — the world number three is happy with his game as The Open looms.

"I feel like I've done what I wanted to do this week," McIlroy said. "I've driven the ball well. The things I've been seeing in practice I've been able to put out there on to the course, and I just might need to go a bit more over the weekend.

"If you play the par 5s well, that's four birdies right there, and then with the other 14 holes, you're bound to give yourself at least eight or ten looks at birdies and just try and convert a few and hopefully creep up on them over the weekend."

Paul Dunne shot a three-under 68 but Lady Luck continues to turn her back on him and he missed the five-under cut by one — his fourth missed cut in a row — with Pádraig Harrington a shot further back after a 72 as Graeme McDowell shot 69 finish on level par. Scores

"I hadn't missed a cut all year till last week, and now I've missed two on the spin," McDowell said. "I'll need to have a little word with myself about that over the next day or two."

At the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge, Ruaidhri McGee is 10 shots behind England's Steve Tiley on level par after a 75 with Cormac Sharvin a shot further back after a 71.

Robin Dawson (74) missed the one-over cut by two shots as Paul McBride bounced back from his 83 with a 70 and Michael Hoey retired on 11 over. Scores

Paul McGinley returned to action following the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open by carding a level par 72 in the European Tour Destinations Senior Classic at PGA Catalunya Resort, where David Shacklady shot a 67 to lead by one. Scores

But there was better news for Jordanstown's Stephanie Meadow in the LPGA Tour's Marathon Classic in Ohio, where she shot a five-under 66 to end a run of six missed cuts in a row and to lie just six shots behind early Sei Young Kim in a tie for 15th on five-under. Scores

However, Leona Maguire's second round 75 left her nine shots behind Ssu-Chia Keng on one-over in the Symetra Tour's Donald Ross Classic at French Lick. Scores