Saturday is often referred to as moving day in tournament golf and Graeme McDowell certainly epitomised that notion by firing a third round 65 to move straight to the business end of proceedings heading into the final day of the Smurfit Kappa European Open at the K Club.

The 27-year-old was quickly out of the blocks with an early eagle three at the par five third. A three-wood from 260 yards came up just short of the green but from there he deftly chipped a 58degree lob wedge into the hole.

Although he didn't exactly set the place ablaze after that, a birdie at the seventh would take him to the turn in three-under and four-under for the tournament. On the back nine McDowell recorded back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th but more importantly he didn't drop a shot all day.

"There's no doubt the eagle helped me create some momentum," said McDowell who moved into a share of seventh on six-under after starting the day outside the top 25.

"I drove the ball much better today and you have to hit fairways out here or else you're dead. Although I didn't knock down as many pins as I would have liked, I think I hit around 14 greens (in regulation)."

"I knew I needed a low one today and knew I had a low score in me if I could hit the ball in play more from the tee."

Aside from focusing on a third win in Europe, McDowell would also like to make it to the USPGA Championship and World Cup later this year. "I've got to get my way back into the top 100 in the world and another low one tomorrow would certainly help. As for the World Cup, I'd love the opportunity to play but that's up to Padraig (Harrington)."

There were a  couple of other players who certainly understood the art of moving day, one of those was the new leader, Soren Hansen from Denmark, and Australia's Peter O'Malley who both shot best of the day 63s.

"The round really only kicked in when I put a string of birdies together at the end when the sun came out," said Hansen, who birdied four of the last five holes with a 3-4-3-2-2 combination to lead on 10-under. "I guess the 40 foot putt at the 17th was fortunate but the 12 footer at the last was a good putt."

Hansen was the 2002 Irish Open champion at Fota Island but hasn't won since. That year his compatriot and namesake Anders also won and this year he picked up the prestigious BMW Championship. So if history repeats itself Soren could be in line for more success tomorrow.

By the close of play Hansen held a two shot lead over England's Robert Rock (66) in second and a chasing pack in third on seven-under. That group includes Sweden's in-form Niclas Fasth (70), O'Malley, France's Gregory Havret (68) and fellow Swede Peter Hanson who had a finish all of his own to talk about.

Hanson practically outsmarted the leader's impressive finish as he concluded in the best way possible by making a hole-in-one at the makeshift par three 18th before signing for a 66. He holed-out with a six-iron from 176 yards and moved into a tie for fourth on seven-under

Despite all Colin Montgomerie's positive chat yesterday, the Scot  dropped back to six-under and tied seventh alongside McDowell after an uneventful 71.

It was also a rather lethargic day for pre-tournament favourite Padraig Harrington whose 69 meant he only improved one shot to two-under for a tournament which is now beyond his reach as he is eight shots behind Hansen.

"The scoring is good out there, a couple of late bogeys is what did my score in," said Harrington referring to dropped shots at the 14th and 17th, where he three-putted for the first time this week. "I played fine and I'm not walking off the course saying 'I should have been five or six shots better'."

"It's just one of those courses, every time I come he I don't seem to do that well here. You get golf courses like that where it's hard to compete, then you get others where you find it easy and everyone else finds it
hard," added Harrington who strapped up his knee again and took more anti-inflammatory tablets before today's round.

Earlier in the day David Higgins continued to take advantage of his sponsor's invite by carding a second successive 68 to get to one-under for the tournament.  The Waterville pro took advantage of the morning
conditions to reach the turn in three-under 33. Another birdie followed at the 10th before a rocky patch of three bogeys-in-a-row but rallied well.

Angel Cabrera's birdie at the third, quickly followed by a quadruple bogey eight at the next, neatly summed up the US Open champion's experience today. The burly Argentine slumped to a third round 74, with a double-bogey, bogey combination over the final two par threes, to be four-over and completely out of touch.

Spare a thought also for the overnight leader at the start of the day. Little-known Swede Pelle Edberg had coped well for so long but too many visits to the water coming down the stretch meant he signed for a 73 to drop back to five-under and tied 14th.

By the close of play it was Hansen at the top of the pile but that pile includes McDowell who is close enough to challenge tomorrow.