Golf:There was an Irish logjam at the top of the Andalucia Masters leaderboard and although Graeme McDowell shares the overnight lead he will not have enjoyed the way his afternoon finished at Valderrama.
It's an Irish one-two-three at the top with McDowell and Gareth Maybin in a share of the lead on six under 207 after respective rounds of 72 and 70, while Damien McGrane (70) and Miguel Angel Jimenez (71) are four shots back in a tie for third on two under.
Though McDowell and Maybin, playing together in the final group and will do so again in tomorrow's final round, opened up a gap on the field, the US Open champion should really have held the outright lead but for an untimely double-bogey at the 18th.
McDowell's day began steadily with six pars before a double-bogey at the seventh dropped him back level with Maybin. However the Portrush pro showed major resolve and picked up five birdies and two bogeys by the time he stood on the 18th.
His final error of the day occurred when his effort from a greenside bunker came up short and nestled down at the edge of the putting surface. From there the 31-year-old was unable to get his pitch close and had to settle for a six.
"It was an emotional rollercoaster out there. There was a stretch of four or five holes where I was all over the place," admitted McDowell. "Then I really steadied the ship again - I birdied 13, had a great chance on 14, birdied 15, got up and down on 16 and birdied 17.
"I was stood on the 18th fairway thinking ‘this is great, just finish the job’ and I walked off with a six. It was a very careless way to finish. But there was enough good golf to make me happy. I’m in a great position going into Sunday afternoon with a chance to win a golf tournament which is where I want to be."
Maybin, on the other hand, had a dramatic start with two opening bogeys before immediately getting back on level terms with two birdies. Another birdie followed at nine before the Ballyclare man recorded nine straight pars on the inward run.
"It was a rough enough start (with the two bogeys), but then I battled back and really knuckled down," said Maybin who was happy with his lot. "It can be pretty brutal when the wind blows, so to shoot under par was a good result."
Should McDowell go on to win tomorrow the €500,000 winner's cheque would eat into Kaymer's lead of almost €1million at the top of the Race to Dubai standings.
McGrane and Jimenez might be four off the lead but they are still close enough to have a say on the final day proceedings, as is another Spanish favourite in Sergio Garcia (69), who is on one under alongside fellow Ryder Cup vice captain Thomas Bjorn (71).
Kaymer improved to three over after a 70 but his chances of assuming Tiger Woods' world number one spot have all but evaporated. That role will now be handed to the injured Lee Westwood, who will become the new number one tomorrow despite being sidelined with a recurring calf injury.
Shane Lowry (71) was next best of the Irish on two over, while Darren Clarke dropped back to four over after a 75. Michael Hoey (77) and Peter Lawrie (74) were six and seven over respectively.
Collated third round scores & totals in the European Tour Andalucia Valderrama Masters, Club de Golf Valderrama, Sotogrande, Spain
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):
207 Graeme McDowell 68 67 72, Gareth Maybin 69 68 70
211 Damien McGrane 68 73 70, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 70 71
212Thomas Bjorn (Den) 72 69 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 70 73 69
213Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 71 72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 71 72, Anthony Kang (USA) 73 72 68
214Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 75 68, James Kingston (Rsa) 71 70 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 70 73
215Niclas Fasth (Swe) 73 66 76, Joost Luiten (Ned) 74 69 72, Shane Lowry 73 71 71, Gregory Havret (Fra) 74 70 71
216Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 74 67 75, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 70 73 73, Steve Webster 73 74 69, Ross Fisher 71 73 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 74 70, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 71 73 72, Anthony Wall 72 73 71, Robert Rock 71 74 71, Richard Green (Aus) 72 71 73, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 71 75 70
217Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 74 71, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 73 69 75, Oliver Wilson 74 72 71, David Howell 76 71 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 71 76 70, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70 76, Darren Clarke 72 70 75
218Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 73 72 73, Gary Boyd 71 69 78, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 71 71 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 73 71 74
219Chris Wood 72 74 73, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 69 78 72, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 74 70 75, Jamie Donaldson 72 73 74, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 71 71 77, Michael Hoey 70 72 77, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 66 77 76
220Soren Hansen (Den) 70 75 75, Peter Lawrie 72 74 74
221David Drysdale 73 72 76, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 72 73 76, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 71 76 74
222Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 75 75, Marc Warren 75 72 75, Santiago Luna (Spa) 72 74 76
223Martin Wiegele (Aut) 73 74 76, Stephen Gallacher 75 71 77