Paul Dunne right in the mix at Scottish Open as Harrington falls back

If the first two days of the Scottish Open were all about Pádraig Harrington on the Irish front, then the weekend may well turn out to be all about Paul Dunne as he played himself right into contention both for the title and for a place at next week’s Open Championship.

As the rain hammered down at Dundonald Links and the wind caused havoc to make conditions decidely tougher than the first two days, 24-year-old Dunne made the most of the early conditions while 45-year-old Harrington endured a nightmare round in the final group.

The three-time major winner – who will go to Royal Birkdale next week for the Open Championship with high hopes – three-putted the opening green for bogey and from there it got progressively worse, eventually adding up to a 79 – seven over par – to take him well out of contention at two under for the tournament.

For Dunne, it was a battling round of 69 to go into the final day in a tie for fifth place at six under par, just three shots behind leaders Ian Poulter, Andrew Dodt and Callum Shinkwin. The Irishman will play alongside Graeme McDowell in Sunday’s final round after the 2010 US Open champion also made the most of the more benign conditions on the way to signing for a round of 68 which included eight birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey to leave him four shots off the lead at five under.

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Just as importantly for Dunne, he is currently occupying one of the three spots which will earn a place at next week’s third major of the year. The top three players not already exempt for Birkdale will secure places at next week’s third major, as long as they finish in the top-10 at the end of play on Sunday. Currently, Dodt, Shinkwin and Dunne make up the trio with Dunne edging out Johan Carlsson by way of his superior world ranking. McDowell is in the same boat as Dunne and will need a strong final round if he is to sneak into that top three.

After slipping outside the cut mark at one stage on Friday, Dunne fought back on his back nine to comfortably secure a weekend place thanks to a round of 73.

And on Saturday he seemed to feed off that confidence, despite a poor start. Bogeys at the first and second were far from the opening he wanted but when Dunne gets on a birdie streak he tends to keep it going. And that’s exactly what happened as he picked up shots at the third, eighth, ninth, 11th and 14th. A bogey at the 15th was his only back nine blip but he ironed it out by making a birdie at the final hole for a very satisfying 69.

That was a full 10 shots better than Harrington who, despite a nightmare round, still left the course with a smile on his face. His form over the first two days will mean he will very much fancy his chances of making it a third claret jug in Southport next week.

After rounds of 67 and 68 on the first two days, the grim links conditions would have been expected to suit the Dubliner on Saturday but it transpired quite differently.

After that confidence-knocking bogey at his opening hole, he dropped further shots at the fourth, seventh and eighth.

His single birdie of the third round came at the ninth but was given straight back with a bogey at the 10th. From there it got even worse as a double bogey at the 15th and a bogey at the 17th almost certainly put paid to his chances of capturing a 16th European Tour win on Sunday.

But Sunday at Dundonald could still see a resurgent win from a European Tour veteran as Ian Poulter – chasing his 13th win on the circuit and a first in five years – kept his head as many others lost theirs to sign for a round of 71 and nine under par for the tournament.

Poulter – who finished second to Harrington the last time the Open was played at Birkdale in 2008 – has enjoyed a return to form since a second place finish at the Players championship on the PGA Tour in May, already securing the card he thought he had lost at the end of last year on the US circuit.

Three birdies and two bogeys on Saturday secured him a place in the final group on Sunday alongside Australia’s Dodt while Shinkwin will partner fellow Englishman Andy Sullivan in the second to last pairing. Sullivan sits two shots behind the lead at seven under after shooting a 67 in the easier earlier conditions, much like Dunne and McDowell.

Americans Rickie Fowler and Matt Kuchar sit alongside McDowell at five under after a 74 and 73 respectively.

Collated third round scores & totals in the European Tour Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, Dundonald Links, Troon, Ayrshire (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

207 Ian Poulter 67 69 71, Callum Shinkwin 67 68 72, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 67 69 71

209 Andrew Sullivan 70 72 67

210 Paul Dunne 68 73 69, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 72 69 69, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 73 69 68

211 Andrew Johnston 73 68 70, Richard Bland 69 74 68, Graeme McDowell 75 68 68, Matt Kuchar (USA) 68 70 73, Anthony Wall 71 71 69, Alexander Knappe (Ger) 70 65 76, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 70 72 69, Bernd Ritthammer (Ger) 72 69 70, Rickie Fowler (USA) 67 70 74

212 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 69 74 69, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 73 66 73

213 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 72 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 66 76, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 73 69 71, Lee Slattery 75 68 70

214 Alexander Levy (Fra) 72 66 76, Richie Ramsay 68 74 72, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 72 69 73, Branden Grace (Rsa) 75 67 72, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 68 72 74, Pádraig Harrington 67 68 79

215 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 69 71 75, Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 68 74 73, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 71 72 72, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 70 76, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 67 78, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 72 68 75, Haotong Li (Chn) 70 71 74, Robert Rock 73 69 73, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 71 72, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 72 72, Sam Brazel (Aus) 72 69 74, Soomin Lee (Kor) 71 72 72

216 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 74 73, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 73 74, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 65 74 77, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 73 70 73, David Horsey 71 68 77, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 69 75

217 Ross Fisher 69 74 74, Sebastien Gros (Fra) 72 71 74, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 72 71 74, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 69 75

218 Adam Scott (Aus) 69 71 78, Romain Wattel (Fra) 72 69 77, David Howell 70 73 75, Ashley Chesters 71 70 77, Jordan Smith 72 71 75, Gary Stal (Fra) 74 69 75, Paul Peterson (USA) 67 76 75

219 Duncan Stewart 71 70 78, Stephen Gallacher 68 72 79, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 76 67 76

220 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 70 72 78

221 Paul Waring 73 70 78

223 Luke Donald 70 72 81, Renato Paratore (Ita) 69 73 81

224 Peter Hanson (Swe) 69 74 81