John Doyle gave another glimpse of his potential as he fired a three-under 69 at the St Andrews Links Trophy.
Doyle found the Jubilee Course to his liking and he lies in a share of 9th place, just two shots off the pace set by Frenchman Ugo Malcor and Dutch star Loran Appel with the final 54 holes to be played on the Old Course.
The Fota Island man opened with five straight pars before going birdie, bogey, birdie over his next three holes to turn in 35.
The teenager was in cruise control when he birdied the 11th, 12th and 16th holes but despite a bogey at the last he is in a fine position to launch a charge at a third victory of the season.
Roscommon’s Thomas Higgins was four-under early in his round but had to settle for a two-under 70 with Malahide’s Gavin O’Neill a shot further back alongside Warrenpoint’s Colm Campbell.
Former Walker Cup star Matthew McClean (Malone) is back on level-par while Sean Keeling and Caolan Rafferty are one-over after rounds of 73.
Galgorm Castle’s Joshua Hill is two-over while Paul Coughlan is four-over and Brian Doran and Luke O’Neill are well down the field on plus seven.
Scoring HERE
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