Gavin Moynihan three shots off his goal in European Tour Qualifying School

Gavin Moynihan is just three shots away from his goal but Ruaidhri McGee, Cormac Sharvin and Dermot McElroy face a battle to make the 72-hole cut at the final stage of the European Tour Qualifying School in Spain.

A change in the exemption categories for next season means that Moynihan needs a top-10 finish to improve on the dozen starts he will already get on the European Tour in 2018.

And while he birdied his final hole at Lumine Golf Club's Hills Course in Salou, near Tarragona, carding a level-par 72 and shares 32nd on two-under par after 36 holes, he knows he must improve his iron play if he's to achieve his goal in the six-round marathon.

“To be honest, I thought I’d be 52nd and near the cut line rather than 32nd,” Moynihan said after a round that began with him losing a ball up a tree en route to a double-bogey seven at his second hole. “I have been nowhere near my best.”

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England’s Tom Murray shot 63 and Italian Andrea Pavan a 68 on the Hills Course to lead by a shot from Switzerland’s Jeff Winther on 10-under par.

The top 70 and ties – level par so far – will make the cut after Monday’s fourth round but Derry’s McGee is two shots outside the projected mark even after he made two late birdies to salvage a one-over 73.

Sharvin, of Ardglass, is 131st on five over after a 74 on the Lakes Course while Ballymena’s McElroy is tied 139th on six-over after a 75 at the Hills.

Two-under-par after nine holes and back to just one over for the tournament, he frittered away five shots in seven holes with the killer blow a double-bogey seven at the 16th that was all down to mental arithmetic

“I made a mistake on 16, adding 51 and 16,” confessed McElroy sheepishly. “I thought it was 76 yards and it was obviously 66, so I flew the green with a wedge into the back bunker and took three more to get down from there.”

European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, Lumine Golf Club (Lakes Course, Par 71; Hills Course, Par 72) Tarragona

Results

133 T Murray (Eng) 70 63; A Pavan (Ita) 65 68;

134 J Winther (Den) 67 67;

135 L Canter (Eng) 71 64; G Stal (Fra) 64 71; B Evans (Eng) 69 66;

137 S Horsfield (Eng) 69 68; S Manley (Wal) 69 68;

138 J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 67 71; J Arnoy (Nor) 70 68; C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 69 69; H Sturehed (Swe) 67 71; R Macintyre (Sco) 67 71;

139 M Foster (Eng) 67 72; P Howard (Eng) 73 66; C Lloyd (Eng) 68 71; S Heisele (Ger) 72 67; S Gros (Fra) 70 69; P Mejow (Ger) 69 70; J Thomson (Eng) 67 72;

140 Ó Serna (Mex) 68 72; M Schwab (Aut) 71 69; K Johannessen (Nor) 71 69; A Arnaus (Esp) 70 70; C Braeunig (Ger) 70 70; J Heath (Eng) 72 68; M Baldwin (Eng) 71 69; P Pittayarat (Tha) 70 70; J Munro (Aus) 69 71; Å Nilsson (Swe) 71 69; K Koivu (am) (Fin) 70 70;

141 M Nixon (Eng) 70 71; D Law (Sco) 68 73; N Geyger (Chi) 67 74; C Blomstrand (Swe) 72 69; N Fasth (Swe) 72 69; M Lafeber (Ned) 68 73; O Wilson (Eng) 67 74; K Broberg (Swe) 70 71; P Widegren (Swe) 69 72; E Johansen (Nor) 68 73; N Kimsey (Eng) 68 73; H Otto (RSA) 70 71; M Millar (Aus) 74 67; J Quesne (Fra) 69 72; G Moynihan (Irl) 69 72; A Knappe (Ger) 69 72; J Veerman (USA) 71 70;

142 K Samooja (Fin) 73 69; C Ford (Eng) 73 69; J Kruyswijk (RSA) 71 71; S Tiley (Eng) 72 70; A Blyth (Aus) 71 71; M Armitage (Eng) 71 71; J Huldahl (Den) 67 75; A Hall (Aus) 73 69; M Schneider (Ger) 68 74; A Hansen (Den) 71 71; B Easton (RSA) 69 73; G Fernandez - Castaño (Esp) 72 70; J Edfors (Swe) 70 72; M Giles (Aus) 76 66;

143 S Webster (Eng) 69 74; J Geary (Nzl) 72 71; M Salminen (Fin) 71 72; J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 69 74; J Brun (Fra) 72 71; F Aguilar (Chi) 73 70; R McGowan (Eng) 72 71; S Khan (Eng) 72 71; J Dean (Eng) 69 74; L Nemecz (Aut) 70 73; P Angles (Esp) 73 70; M Fenasse (Fra) 73 70; J Lima (Por) 74 69;

144 J Sjöholm (Swe) 71 73; J Rutherford (Eng) 72 72; M Lundberg (Swe) 74 70; M Iten (Sui) 74 70; O Lindell (Fin) 73 71; R Gonzalez (Arg) 71 73; C Doak (Sco) 73 71; D Papadatos (Aus) 71 73; S Vincent (Zim) 72 72; M Orrin (Eng) 72 72; E Park (Kor) 72 72; E Ferguson (Sco) 74 70; T Tree (Eng) 72 72; L Gagli (Ita) 71 73; E De La Riva (Esp) 73 71; R Kellett (Sco) 77 67; T Lewis (Eng) 75 69; J Carlsson (Swe) 76 68; A Michael (RSA) 73 71;

145 M Jonzon (Swe) 72 73; J Janewattananond (Tha) 74 71; T Cocha (Arg) 74 71; J Hansen (Den) 72 73; B Hafthorsson (Isl) 73 72; S Dyson (Eng) 77 68; A Haig (RSA) 74 71; R McGee (Irl) 72 73; G Forrest (Sco) 73 72; H Leon (Chi) 73 72; N Cullen (Aus) 73 72; M Lampert (Ger) 73 72; P Maddy (Eng) 77 68; D Foos (Ger) 72 73; C Syme (Sco) 72 73; D Huizing (Ned) 73 72; D Brown (Eng) 71 74;

146 J Erkenbeck (USA) 73 73; S Soderberg (Swe) 71 75; M Ford (Eng) 74 72; R Petersson (Swe) 73 73; R Dinwiddie (Eng) 73 73; A Cañizares (Esp) 73 73; J Walters (RSA) 75 71; R Green (Aus) 74 72; F Dreier (Den) 72 74; J Parry (Eng) 70 76; J Stalter (Fra) 70 76; E Di Nitto (Ita) 76 70;

147 C Nilsson (Swe) 77 70; S Gregory (Eng) 73 74; S Henry (Sco) 78 69; R Kakko (Fin) 69 78; R Echenique (Arg) 76 71; R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 72 75; T Sinnott (Aus) 74 73;

148 C Sharvin (Nir) 74 74; J Fernandez-Valdes (Arg) 78 70; A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 76 72; R McEvoy (Eng) 70 78; S Hutsby (Eng) 74 74; S Sharma (Ind) 75 73; J Fahrbring (Swe) 78 70; O Gillberg (am) (Swe) 73 75;

149 D McElroy (Nir) 74 75; M Trappel (Aut) 73 76; F Fritsch (Ger) 75 74; A Rosaye (Fra) 72 77;

150 M Madsen (Den) 77 73; D Stewart (Sco) 78 72; A Rozner (Fra) 69 81; M Kim (Kor) 76 74;

151 L Vaisanen (Fin) 77 74; R Enoch (Wal) 74 77; A Meronk (Pol) 79 72;

152 G Porteous (Eng) 78 74;

153 J Jeong (Kor) 76 77; B Ritthammer (Ger) 82 71;

154 C Del Moral (Esp) 78 76;

WD J Girrbach (Sui) 75 76; N Holman (Aus) 78 75; N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 81 75.