Jonathan Yates will head into the final round of the Goesser Open just outside the top-10 on the leaderboard but six shots off the lead after a stunning third round from Lukas Lipold in Graz.
Naas man Yates carded six birdies and three bogeys in a three-under 69 to move up to eight-under-par and is the only man at that score in 11th, but that paled in comparison to the outstanding Lipold, who shot a nine-under 63.
That has the local man three shots clear with one round to play, with Legends Tour invitee Clark Dennis and fellow Austrian Markus Brier, who matched each other shot-for-shot as they finished with 66s to sit 11-under-par.
Yates will know there is a top-10 spot on offer for him with a strong final round – particularly with only three shots separating him and the pair sitting in second place – with David Carey and Paul McBride also in contention for good finishes, too.
Carey is a shot behind Yates after a four-under 68 took him to seven-under-par and into a share of 12th, with McBride lying tied-24th as he was the best of the Irish in round two, his 67 taking him away from the cut line and up to six-under-par.
The only other Irishman to survive the four-under cut line was Gary Hurley, whose level-par 72 kept him at five-under-par for the tournament and in for the weekend by a stroke, but it was bad news for the other three competing at Golf Club Erzherzog Johann.
It was a disappointing finish in particular for James Sugrue, who missed out on the final round by a single stroke as a three-under 69 left him one shot short at three-under-par for the tournament as well, six birdies offset by three bogeys.
Luke Donnelly also missed the cut as a 74 dropped him to two-over-par for the week, while Simon Bryan shot the same score to also miss out at four-over-par.
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