McGee and Phelan lead Irish challenge at Tour qualifying

Ruaidhri McGee’s hopes of obtaining a European Tour card took a blow after his third round of the final qualifying stage in Spain on Tuesday.

After his stunning four-under par 66 on the Tour Course at the PGA Catalunya Course in Girona on Monday, he slumped out of the top 10 after carding a two-over-par 72 today.

Playing on the Tour Course once again, the Rosapenna golfer carded a triple-bogey seven at the par-four 12th along with another bogey at the 13th to leave him at two-over-par for the day and four-under for the tournament with an aggregate score of 209.

He will hope he does not continue to slip down the leaderboard as players outside the top 70 spots and ties will be cut.

McGee is now in a share of 32nd place along with Waterford's Kevin Phelan after his impressive round shot him up the leaderboard.

The 23-year old Phelan recovered well from successive bogeys at the fourth and fifth to record an eagle at the par -five 10th and birdies at the 14th and 18th and finish with a two-under-par 68 for the day.

David Higgins is currently on the cutline of level par, sharing 66th position with another 10 golfers.

The 40-year old Kerryman will need a better round than his recent two-over-par 72 on the Tour Course.

Dermot McElroy’s hopes of getting his hands on a card look bleak after a disastrous four-over 76 around the Stadium Course.

The Ballymena amateur is now on four-over-par and in a share of 102nd place and will need a large piece of good fortune if he is to make it into the top 70 and ties by the end of the fourth round.

England’s James Morrison and Sweden’s Jens Dantorp currently lead the way with both players on 10-under-par heading into the next round.