Graeme McDowell battles cold putter to remain in contention at Irish Open

When you need someone to grit their teeth and to roll up their sleeves for a golfing battle, few possess the fortitude of Graeme McDowell who, yet again, demonstrated his terrier-like qualities in producing two birdies in his closing three holes for a third round 69 – for 203, 10 under par – that put him hot on the heels of leader Mikko Ilonen heading into the final round.

As Finland's Ilonen produced a 69 of his own for 201 to retain the lead at the 54-hole stage, one clear of England's Danny Willett, the large galleries – in excess of 28,000 for the third round – urged on McDowell from start to finish as the Northern Irishman, who struggled with his putter for a large segment of the round, stubbornly stuck to his task.

Known as one of the best putters on tour, McDowell gave himself birdie chances time and time again only for the blade to stay cold. On the 14th green, after yet another birdie putt from inside 10 feet shaved the hole, his caddie, Kenny Comboy, firmly put his hand on his player’s head to keep it still. The reminder had almost immediate effect, as McDowell proceeded to roll in birdie putts on the 16th and 17th to resurrect his championship aspirations.

Of Comboy’s intervention, McDowell explained: “I have a tendency when I start to miss putts to get a little anxious in an attempt to see if it is going in. I jump up off the putt. It’s something we have learned in the past, when putts are not going in, I have to stay in my technique and stay in my putt and keep trusting. It was just a reminder (from Comboy) for me.”

McDowell – who, quite remarkably, has not yet had a top-10 finish in an Irish Open – is hoping that it will be a case of 13th time lucky as he goes into a final round with a chance to claim a first win of the season.

How special would it be if he were to overhaul Ilonen and second placed Danny Willett, who recorded a hole-in-one on the seventh in a course-record 63?

“It would be special on many levels. It would be a kick-starter to my season, it would be a big boost in the world rankings and the Ryder Cup rankings. But, most importantly, to win here in front of my home fans, with everything that’s gone on in Irish golf lately, with the Open Championship announcement (for Portrush) and Rory and his Olympic announcement, I think it would be a fun way to do the biz.

“There’s some quality players (in contention), I’ve just got to control my ball and we’ll count them up and see what happens,” added McDowell.

Ilonen retained his lead and will seek to go wire-to-wire in an attempt for a fourth career title on the European Tour, his most recent coming in last year’s Nordea Masters.

Willett was also thrilled with the reception the golfers have received in Cork.

“The crowds out here are amazing,” said Willett, whose holed an eight iron on the 179-yard seventh hole to give him an impetus which was followed by a birdie on the eighth and, after turning in 32, he came home in just 31 strokes which included a hat-trick of birdies from the 16th.

McDowell heads the Irish challenge, which was augmented by Gareth Maybin – who shot a 69 for 205, eight under – while Pádraig Harrington had a 71 for 207, six under, that featured a double-bogey five on the third and it was only late on in the round that he managed to get any momentum going.

Harrington’s problems started on the par 3 third hole where his tee-shot – “a poor shot,” he later admitted – plunged into the greenside hazard. He ran up a double-bogey five but the real momentum killer was a failure to respond with birdies on either of the two following holes, both par 5s. “I have to hit the ball stone dead to make a birdie this week, I am really struggling,” he admitted.

In his gameplan for the final round, there is only one option: to attack the flags! “I’m attacking all the time. I need a very, very big day. The leaders haven’t gone far away,” said Harrington.

Harrington might need something very, very special to get the job done. McDowell, though, has the more realistic hope. Two shots off the pace going into the final round, in front of home supporters. It couldn’t be set up much better.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

(Irish or British unless stated, par 71, (x) denotes amateur)

201 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 64 68 69

202 Daniel Willett 73 66 63

203 Graeme McDowell 68 66 69

204 Romain Wattel (Fra) 69 65 70, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 69 66, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 70 69 65, Matthew Baldwin 67 71 66

205 Anders Hansen (Den) 67 70 68, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 66 71 68, Gareth Maybin 71 65 69, Simon Khan 69 66 70, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 67 69 69

206 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 68 71 67, Gary Stal (Fra) 70 67 69

207 Paul Casey 69 69 69, Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 70 68, Adam Gee 68 70 69, Richard Finch 68 72 67, Pádraig Harrington 69 67 71, Oliver Fisher 73 68 66

208 Marco Crespi (Ita) 68 67 73, Robert Rock 68 66 74, Chris Wood 69 69 70, Ricardo Santos (Por) 71 71 66, Gregory Havret (Fra) 70 68 70, Pablo Larrazabal (Esp) 72 69 67

209 Richard Bland 73 68 68, Roope Kakko (Fin) 71 66 72, Marc Warren 71 70 68, Matthew Nixon 70 65 74, Daan Huizing (Ned) 67 71 71, Michael Hoey 68 71 70, Graeme Storm 69 70 70

210 Sihwan Kim (Nor) 69 67 74, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 73 69, Steve Webster 70 70 70, Ross Fisher 68 72 70, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 70 70, Stuart Manley 70 68 72, John G Kelly 71 71 68, Hao-Tong Li (Chn) 69 72 69, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Esp) 72 68 70

211 Sam Walker 72 68 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 66 74 71, Alejandro Canizares (Esp) 72 68 71, Peter Lawrie 69 72 70, Matthew Fitzpatrick 72 69 70

212 Andrew McArthur 71 67 74, David Howell 72 67 73, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 71 71 70, David Horsey 72 69 71, Christopher Doak 69 70 73, Alvaro Quiros (Esp) 70 70 72, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 70 70 72, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 72 70 70

213 Anthony Wall 71 71 71, Jake Roos (Rsa) 68 73 72, Darren Clarke 72 68 73, Jason Knutzon (USA) 73 69 71

214 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 66 76 72, Stephen Dodd 73 69 72, James Heath 70 72 72, Alastair Forsyth 71 71 72, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 68 74 72

215 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 70 71 74, Jose-Maria Olazabal (Esp) 69 73 73

216 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 71 71 74, Jack Doherty 71 71 74, Tom Lewis 68 72 76, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 70 71 75, Justin Walters (Rsa) 68 74 74

217 Francois Calmels (Fra) 73 69 75

218 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 69 72 77

219 (x) Gary Hurley 72 66 81, Mike Miller 73 67 79

FINAL ROUND TEE TIMES

0645 Hurley

0651 Miller, Sjoland

0700 Calmels, Lewis

0709 Ormsby, Doherty

0718 Walters, Saddier

0727 Lundberg, Olazabal

0736 Karlsson, Forsyth

0745 Dodd, Fichardt

0754 Clarke, Heath

0803 Roos, Wall

0817 McArthur, Knutzon

0826 Howell, Doak

0835 Quiros, Carlsson

0844 Pavan, Horsey

0853 Pieters, Siem

0902 Canizares, Walker

0911 Peter Lawrie, Fitzpatrick

0920 Kim, Manley

0929 Ross Fisher, Webster

0938 Cabrera Bello, Goya

0952 Hao-Tong Li, JM Singh (Ind)

1001 Kelly, Nixon

1010 Huizing, Kakko

1019 Storm, Hoey

1028 Bland, Warren

1037 Rock, Crespi

1046 Wood, Havret

1055 Santos, Larrazabal

1104 Casey, Harrington

1118 Gonzalez, Gee

1127 Oliver Fisher, Finch

1136 Bourdy, Stal

1145 Khan, Maybin

1154 A Hansen, E Molinari

1203 Carlsson, Wattel

1212 Broberg, Baldwin

1221 Zanotti, McDowell

1230 Ilonen, Daniel Willett