RORY McILROY COULD BE YOUNGEST WINNER
IN EUROPEAN TOUR HISTORY

Rory McIlroy from Holywood, Belfast remains in contention to become the youngest winner in European Tour history in just his third event as a professional.
McIlroy only joined the paid ranks after playing in Britain and Ireland's narrow Walker Cup defeat in September, but was 42nd on his debut in the British Masters before finishing third in the Dunhill Links Championship last weekend.
A few eyebrows might still have been raised when the teenager from Northern Ireland spoke about targeting a maiden tournament victory this week, but that was a distinct possibility after a third-round 66 in the Madrid Open gave him a share of third place with Spain's Alejandro Canizares on nine under par - four behind leader Daniel Vancsik of Argentina.
South African Dale Hayes was 18 years and 290 days old when he won the Spanish Open in 1971. McIlroy will be 18 years and 163 days old on Sunday.
"I was six or seven behind going into the final round last week and almost caught up, so if I can get off to another good start and put some pressure on, you never know," said McIlroy.
"I know Sergio Garcia won (the Irish Open) on his fourth start as a professional and this is only my third. If I can shoot another 66, you never know what could happen.
"Everyone was saying I was one of the pre-tournament favourites here, which is pretty tough to live up to, but that was just because of how well I had played last week. Luckily I have carried that form with me."
THIRD-ROUND TOTALS
Par 216 (3 x 72)
203 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 65 70 68.
205 Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 69 69 67.
207 Rory McIlroy 73 68 66, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 69 66 72.
208 Marcus Fraser (Aus) 75 68 65, Santiago Luna (Spa) 75 67 66, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 69 68, Manuel Quiros (Spa) 72 67 69, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 71 66 71.
209 Christopher Hanell (Swe) 70 73 66, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 71 69 69, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 68 70 71, Gary Lockerbie 68 68 73
210 Pablo Martin (Spa) 74 71 65, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 71 73 66, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 70 68, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 67 75 68, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 71 69 70, Francis Valera (Spa) 70 67 73
211 Sven Struver (Ger) 69 74 68, Sam Little 72 71 68, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 72 70 69
212 Steven O'Hara 67 79 66, Ariel Canete (Arg) 75 70 67, Matthew Millar (Aus) 72 73 67, Damien McGrane 71 74 67, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 73 70 69
213 Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 75 70 68, David Carter 71 73 69, Sam Walker 71 72 70, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 73 70 70, Benn Barham 71 71 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 74 68 71, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 70 70 73
214 Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 74 71 69, Andrew Marshall 70 74 70, Jose Filipe Lima (Por) 66 76 72, Eirik Tage Johansen (Nor) 72 70 72, James Kingston (Rsa) 76 65 73
215 Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 75 72 68, Graeme McDowell 74 73 68, David Park 73 71 71, John Bickerton 74 69 72, Anthony Wall 75 68 72
216 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 74 73 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 73 74 69, Steve Alker (Nzl) 72 75 69, Cesar Monasterio (Arg) 73 73 70, Richard Bland 72 74 70, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 74 70 72, Marcel Siem (Ger) 73 71 72, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 74 69 73
217 Andrew Tampion (Aus) 71 73 73
218 Stuart Little 71 76 71, David Lynn 76 71 71, Rhys Davies 76 70 72, Robert Rock 72 74 72, Peter Lawrie 71 75 72, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 77 68 73, Lee Slattery 73 72 73
219 Kyron Sullivan 73 74 72, Zane Scotland 74 73 72, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 72 72 75, Carl Suneson (Spa) 75 68 76
220 Johan Axgren (Swe) 75 72 73
222 David Drysdale 72 73 77, Matthew Richardson 72 72 78
223 Carlos Balmaseda (Spa) 79 68 76, Agustin Domingo (Spa) 75 72 76
224 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 76 71 77
225 Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 75 78
Withdrawn: Matthew Zions (Aus)