FIVE SCOTS IN TOP 12 AT BALTRAY

Amateur Lowry shares lead with Rock

after three rounds of Irish Open

FROM THE EUROPEAN TOUR WEBSITE
Course record holder Graeme McDowell was ruled out of The 3 Irish Open at County Louth with a limp but local amateur Shane Lowry amazingly continued to put many of Europe's biggest names in the shade after a five hour delay for strong winds pushed the third round well into the evening.

With Sunday's round to come, Lowry, pictured right by Cal Carson Golf Agency, shares the lead at 16-under-par 200 with England's Robert Rock. Lowry returned a battling one-under-par 71 to follow up his 67 and 62. Rock and third-placed Johan Edfors were the only men to break 70 today. Rock had a 69 after earlier rounds of 66 and 65.

Edfors starts the final day in third place, two shots off the leaders on 202 after a third-round 68, the best the day.
But McDowell's hopes of becoming just the second home winner of the title since 1974 lay in tatters.
The Ryder Cup star, who had recovered from an opening 77 with an incredible 11 under par 61, was forced out with shin splints in his right leg.
McDowell said: "I picked up the injury on Thursday, yesterday it got progressively worse and this morning, after I warmed up, I was really struggling to walk.
"I got straight on the phone to my physio and he sent one of the Tour physios to strap it up. It was difficult conditions and I'm making any excuses, but I was in a lot of pain.
"I'm disappointed that I have to do it here. This is only the second withdrawal of my career and not something that I like to get in the habit of doing."
Play was halted just before 10am after Swede Johan Edfors had a ball blown six inches by the wind on the second green.
The gusts were over 30mph, there was heavy rain as well at the time and with a forecast of a worsening situation all 73 players were brought in.
Leader Lowry, whose second round of 62 equalled the lowest round ever by an amateur on the circuit, had completed just one hole then.
He and everyone else except McDowell resumed at 3.15pm, and the 22 year old plus five handicapper continued his dream European Tour debut by stretching his lead to three on the front nine.
Lowry, the son of a famous Gaelic footballer, did bogey the short fifth, but he sank a 14 footer on the next for birdie and holed from around twice as far to complete an outward 36.
Trying to become just the third amateur to lift a European Tour title, he turned at 16 under par with England's Robert Rock his closest challenger at 13 under and Edfors one further back.
With Padraig Harrington missing the cut and McDowell out as well, Irish hopes appeared to be resting on Lowry's burly shoulders.
That was because Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke had fallen back to four under, Gary Murphy to three, Paul McGinley to two and Damien McGrane to one.

COLIN FARQUHARSON'S SCOTSWATCH

Alastair Forsyth's one-under-par 71 today was enough to see him climb to joint fourth place alongside Englishman Nick Dougherty and France's Thomas Leve on 10-under-par 206.

Colin Montgomerie and Marc Warren are sharing seventh place on 207 - seven behind the joint leaders. Monty had a 72, Warren a 71.

Paul Lawrie, after a pair of 66s and a hole in one to win a £40,000 new car, had a dreadful start. He bogeyed the first, second, third and fourth before he got his only birdie of the day at the long sixth in reaching the turn in 40. The Aberdonian was able to restrict the weather damage to bogeys at the 11th and 17th in an inward 37 for 77 and a share of ninth place on 209, the same mark as Gary Orr who has scored 68, 67 and 74.

David Drysdale was blown out of the picture to joint 62nd position with a third-round 80 for 217.

But five Scots in the leading 12 with 18 holes to go is not a bad effort at all for the European Tour's Tartan Army in this event.

HOW THE LEADERS STAND

Par 216 (3x72) 7,063yd

200 S Lowry (amateur) 67 62 71, R Rock 66 65 69.

202 J Edfors 64 70 68.

206 N Dougherty 66 67 73, A Forsyth 67 68 71, T Levet 67 66 73.

207 C Montgomerie 70 65 72, M Warren 67 69 72.

209 R Kakko 66 67 76, P Lawrie 66 66 77, G Orr 68 67 74, J Donaldson 66 65 78.

210 R Bland 71 68 71, O Wilson 66 68 76.

211 T Bjorn 71 67 73, R-J Derksen 6969 73, S Dodd 70 67 74, R Echenique 69 67 75, T Jaidee 69 70 72, M Lorenzo-Vera 69 69 73, B Rumford 73 66 72, C Schwartzel 72 67 72, L Slattery 67 69 75, A Wall 72 68 71, L Westwood 68 66 77.

212 D Clarke 71 68 73, J Clement 67 70 75, A Hansen 68 68 73, R Jacquelin 71 66 75, S Kjeldsen 67 67 78, J M Lara 67 68 77, P Martin 70 65 77, A McLardy 69 66 77 C Wood 69 67 76.

Selected scores:

213 R McIlroy 69 68 76 (jt 35th).

217 D Drysdale 69 68 80 (jt 62nd).