Max Kennedy brilliantly birdied his last three holes to shoot a five-under 67 and share the lead with his Royal Dublin clubmate Jack McDonnell heading into this afternoon’s final round of the Kingspan-sponsored East of Ireland Amateur Open at Baltray.

The former University of Louisville star claimed the clubhouse lead on 10-under-par and was joined at the top by overnight leader McDonnell, who recovered from bogeys at the 15th and 16th with a great par save at the 17th and a closing birdie four.

McDonnell, who was four clear after a birdie at he 10th, shot 69 to remain in front and while Blainroe’s David Lally opened with a double bogey six and shot 77 to fall back to one-under, the third member of the final threeball, County Louth’s Evan Farrell, also shot 69 to share third place with Caolan Rafferty (68) on eight-under.

Live scoring