EUROPEAN TOUR QUALIFYING SCHOOL:THE CREAM started to rise to the top after the third round of the European Tour Qualifying School finals at PGA Golf de Catalunya but it was the words of the leading contenders that separated them from the lesser lights.

England’s Simon Khan and Charlie Ford lead by a stroke from compatriot Jamie Elson on 14-under par 198 with a host of familiar names sprinkled through the top 30 and ties who will earn coveted tour cards after six rounds.

They include Ireland’s Gary Murphy, who suffered somewhat on the greens at the easier Tour Course and was relegated from seventh to 22nd despite carding a level par 70.

That’s leaves him just inside the vital top 30 on six under par with the field set to be reduced to the top 70 and ties for the final, 36-hole sprint after today’s fourth round.

But unlike his younger colleagues, 37-year old Murphy showed no visible signs of anxiousness as the most nerve-wracking tournament of the season passed the halfway mark.

“I played all right and didn’t hole anything,” Murphy said with a shrug. “But there are three rounds to go so today was just like the first round of the tournament. There is nothing special about tomorrow. It’s Groundhog Day.” On a day when Spain’s Alejandro Cañizares scorched round the Tour Course in nine-under-par 61 to leap to tied fourth, Royal Dublin’s Niall Kearney was mildly frustrated by a two-under-par 68 that leaves him two shots outside crucial top-30 on four under heading to the tough Stadium Course today.

“I missed loads of chances and it was playing easy out there,” the normally laconic 21-year old said. “I gave myself loads of chances and missed a lot of putts so it could have been something in the mid-sixties quite easily.

“I am just waiting for one (low) round to fall into place. I’m back on the Stadium Course tomorrow and hopefully for the next two days after that. But it is all going to plan so I am going to give it a rip and see what happens.”

Jonathan Caldwell, Colm Moriarty and Simon Thornton are hoping to accelerate away from the cut and into contention for their cards after all three broke par yesterday.

Caldwell’s four under par 68 on the Stadium Course was the most impressive of the three rounds and it catapulted him from 96th into a tie for 61st on two under with Moriarty, who birdied the 16th and 17th at the Tour Course for a 68.

They are just inside the top 70 and ties who will play the final two rounds over the Stadium Course.