Whitehead’s John-Ross Galbraith and Tullamore’s Stuart Grehan will carry Irish hopes into the final round of The Ignis Management Championship after they were the only two Irish players to make the cut on the PGA EuroPro Tour.
The pair both carded four-under rounds of 66 at Telford Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort to sit at two-under-par for the week and in a share of 24th going into day three and still within striking distance of leader Nick Marsh.
The Huddersfield man shot a 67 to move one shot clear of the chasing pack at eight-under-par, with The Renaissance Club’s Stuart McLaren holding second at seven-under after an exceptional 63 on day two.
Both Galbraith and Grehan got their scoring boots on in Telford on Thursday and both finish strongly to make the cut and give themselves a chance at a big finish in the second EuroPro Tour event of the year.
Two of Galbraith’s five birdies came in his final four holes as he became the first Irishman into the final round, with Grehan – out in one of the final groups – doing similar as two birdies in his last three holes secured his tee time.
It was a tougher day for the rest of the field, in particular Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy who had led the local contingent after an opening round of 69, but a quadruple-bogey and two double-bogeys led to a six-over 76 that saw him miss the one-over cut line by four strokes.
Robin Dawson came closest to joining Galbraith and Grehan in the final round but he missed out by one at two-over-par after a second round 72, while Cork’s John Hickey and Youghal’s Conor Coyne shot the same score to both finish three-over.
A 74 meant Dundalk’s Daniel Mulligan finished five-over, Daniel Brennan carded a second consecutive 73 to end the week six-over, with a 75 dropping Wexford’s Rhys Clarke to eight-over and back-to-back 76s leaving PGA Catalunya’s Luke Donnelly 12-over.
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