Michael Sim on his way to an outward half of 30 (by courtesy of Getty Images).

Michael Sim takes lead with a 62 as he chases

2nd Nationwide Tour win this season

FROM THE US PGA TOUR WEBSITE:

Aberdeen-born Australian Michael Sim, the Nationwide Tour's leading money winner, is not only threatening to run away with the BMW Charity Pro-Am, but at his current pace, he might run away from the entire Tour this year.

Sim carded a nine-under 62 at Thornblade, South Carolina in the third round and moved to the top of the leaderboard, a position he has quickly come to know in 2009. Sim's 20-under 195 total is three shots better than Argentina's Fabian Gomez (67) and Blake Adams (64).
Jeff Gove (70) is at 15-under 200 and is in fourth place, with B.J. Staten (65) holding down fifth place, six back of Sim.
The tournament features celebrities and amateurs teaming with Nationwide Tour pros in a best-ball format that rotates among three courses in two different states. The top-14 teams advance to Sunday's final round, along with the low 60 pros, who will split the $700,000 purse (first prize $126,000).
"It's really relaxing out there," said Sim, who equalled the Thornblade Club course record with eight birdies, an eagle and a bogey. "I enjoy this format and having fun with the amateurs. It almost doesn't feel like a tournament."
It all has come very easy to the 24-year-old who arrived in Perth, Western Australia with his parents from Aberdeen when he was seven years old. This season, Sim has had a six-stroke runaway win, a play-off loss, a third and a tie for fourth in six starts on the Nationwide Tour, America's No 2 men's pro circuit.

He has pocketed more than $240,000 thus far, more than $90,000 ahead of his closest pursuer and has more than likely assured himself a return trip to the US PGA Tour in 2010. Three tournament wins will give him an "instant promotion" to the Big League this year.
"It's exciting to play golf like this, to be in contention," he said. "My ball-striking this year has been sensational."
Saturday's third round was no exception, with Sim hitting 15 greens and canning putts from everywhere.
"The hole looked like a bucket today," said Sim, who needed only 25 putts and hasn't been slowed down too much by flu symptoms this week. "You get four or five rounds like that a year. You can pick any line, hit any stroke. It almost feels like you don't have to hit the ball that well. You just have to put it on the green."
Sim birdied four of his first five holes, but only one of the four was from beyond five feet. As he made the turn, the hole just got larger and larger. He rolled in a 14-foot birdie on his 10th hole, followed that with an 18-foot eagle on the next, a 25-footer for birdie and a 15-footer for birdie, and he still had four holes to go.
The part-time Scottsdale, Arizona resident finished things up with a 25-foot birdie putt on his closing hole.
"It was just one of those days that you get over the putter and I feel like I can't miss," he said. "It's a strange feeling. I didn't think there was any way I could miss that last putt."
Meantime, Gomez, Adams and the rest of the challengers will have to return to Thornblade for Sunday's final round in hopes of stopping the Aussie-Scot from stepping into the winner's circle for the second time in '09.
"I think it's an advantage for me to play here today," said Sim, battling headaches, sinus congestion and sneezing. "You get to play the same conditions two days in a row. It was nice to make that last putt because the good shots are still fresh in your mind."
Gomez was at 18-under par and the closest pursuer to Sim, but he had to wait out a 62min delay before being able to finish his round. The 30-year old from Chaco, Argentina had hit his tee shot on the final hole at Bright's Creek Country Club in Mill Spring, N.C., when rain halted play.
When play finally resumed, Gomez hit his second shot onto the green at the par-4 but wound up three-putting from 25 feet, thus giving Sim a three-shot lead over Gomez and Adams.
"I'm swinging the club really well right now," he said. "I'm approaching Sunday like any other day, just another round of golf. I have a lot of confidence built up from my solid play back home and I'm hoping it will carry over here to the U.S."
Adams made eight birdies in a bogey-free 64 at Bright's Creek, seven of them from inside 15 feet.
"I guess you could say that things came together out there today. I hit it really well," he said. "After not swinging well the first two days I felt really fortunate to have scored the way I did."

Here is Sim's scorecard today:

Birdie-Eagle-Par-Birdie-Birdie-Bogey-Par-Par-Birdie: Out in five-under-par 30.

Birdie-Par-Birdie-Birdie-Birdie-Par-Par-Par-Par: Back in four-under-par 32.

LEADERBOARD

Players from US unless stated

195 (20 under par) Michael Sim (Sco) 68 65 62.

198 Blake Adams 66 68 64, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 63 68 67.

200 Jeff Gove 65 65 70.

201 B J Staten 69 67 65.

202 Geoffrey Sisk 66 69 67, Daniel Summerhays 65 67 70.

MISSED THE CUT AT 208 or better

212 Keith Nolan (Ire) 74 65 73, Gary Christian (Eng) 69 73 70.

219 Richard Johnson (Wal) 69 73 77.

223 Michael Richardson (Eng) 77 75 71.

+Rain hit all three of the United States' main tours on Saturday. The Champions' Tour event, the Regions Charity Classic, has still to complete its second round and the Valero Texas Open on the US PGA Tour will have to complete its third round on Sunday morning before tackling the fourth round.

BRABAZON TROPHY LATEST

Off-colour Dear is in there pitching

but McNicoll, Booth miss the cut

It's Ireland's weekend so far on the golfing front. Amateur Shane Lowry shares the third-round lead in the Irish Open and in the English open amateur stroke-play championship for the Brabazon Trophy at soggy Moortown Golf Club near Leeds, Irish international Cian Curley from the Newlands club near Dublin is one ahead of the field after the one qualifying round.

Murrayshall's new Irish open amateur stroke-play champion and Craigmillar Park Open winner Gavin Dear, pictured left in action today by courtesy of Tom Ward Photography, despite feeling decidely off colour, will start Sunday's final two rounds in joint second place, one behind Curley after a 69.

With Friday's opening round cancelled because of rain, there was little margin for error in today's round at the end of which there was a cut to the leading 59 players on 74 or better.

That meant Steven McEwan (Caprington) and the defending champion, left-hander Steven Uzell got through to Sunday's 36 holes by the skin of their teeth, McEwan to join compatriots Dear, Glenn Campbell (Blairgowrie) and the Colville Park pair, Ross Kellett and Edward Trophy winner Paul O'Hara, among the qualifiers.

But there were some big Scottish names among those on the wrong side of the 74 cut-off line, including last year's St Andrews Links Trophy and Leven Gold Medal winner Keir McNicoll (Carnoustie) and last weekend's Irish open amateur runner-up Wallace Booth (Comrie) who will be defending the Scottish open amateur stroke play championship at Murcar Links the week after next.

McNicoll had a 75 and Booth a 78. Other Scots eliminated were Greg Paterson (St Andrews New), Gordon Yates (Hilton Park), Scott Borrowman (Dollar), James Ross (Royal Burgess) and James Byrne (Banchory).

Byrne flew back to Britain from Arizona State University before the end of term to play in this tournament and came through one of the pre-qualifying competitions.

In the last three to finish this evening, James was three over par with four holes to play. If he could cover them in level par for a 74, then he was a qualifier. But he finished on five-over 76 and missed the cut by two.

FROM THE ENGLISH GOLF UNION WEBSITE:

Todd Adcock has the chance to add the Brabazon Trophy, supported by SkyCaddie, to his English Amateur Championship after holding the lead during round two at Moortown Golf Club in Leeds
On a day of frequent showers and sunny periods following Friday's first-round wash-out, the English champion from Sussex fired a two-under-par 69, later matched by Hampshire’s Darren Wright and Scotland’s Gavin Dear, on a crowded leaderboard.
But they were both overtaken by Irish international Cian Curley, who leads on three-under-par 68 to set up a thrilling final 36 holes.
Curley, whose Christian named is pronounced Keen, looked to be heading for a comfortable lead as he reached the turn in 31 with five of his seven birdies. But bogeys at the testing final two holes brought him back to the field.
“I had a very good start, covering the front nine in five under. But I wasn’t so solid on the back nine,” he admitted. “It’s a tough finish and I missed the last three greens. But overall I’m happy
“I’ve been knocking on the door in tournaments back home and I’ve been playing well this year,” added the man from the Newlands club in Dublin.
But is he a good front-runner? “We’ll find out tomorrow,” he said.
Adcock knows he can join an elite group if he can lift the trophy. “It will mean a lot to have both titles but we’ll wait and see,” said the 23 year old.
“I am very happy with 69. It could have been a lot better but I would have taken it before the start. I made the most of what I had including a nice eagle at the 12th. But I’ll play every hole as they come and we’ll see what tomorrow’s weather brings.”
Wright, winner of the West of England stroke play last month, also signed for 69 but he was annoyed at dropping a shot at the short 17th.
“I hit a six-iron into the trap, came out to four feet but the putt lipped out,” said the 20 year old from Rowlands Castle.
“We had a lot of showers during the round which meant a lot of messing around with waterproofs and umbrellas. Maybe I should have finished three under but the West of England win has been a great confidence booster.”
Dear, a late starter, had five birdies and a double-bogey in his 69 having not felt well until the last five or six holes.
“I don’t know what the problem is but I’m happy with my score,” he said. “I haven’t been sleeping well and I’m looking forward to having a weekend off next week.
Among those on 70 is Ben Martin from Worthing, who led the qualifiers on Thursday, Hampshire youngster Neil Raymond and Kent champion Liam Burns.
Defending champion Steve Uzzell returned a three-over-par 74 and declared: “It was rubbish.”
He was going along smoothly at level par through 14 holes but ran up three bogeys in the last four holes.
“I drove into a gorse bush on 15 then had to drop in the rough on 16 from a puddle,” he said. “On 17 I found a down slope in a bunker which I didn’t think possible and dropped another shot.”
Fellow international Jamie Abbott also fell foul of the closing stretch, dropping shots at the last three holes for a one-over-par 72, while Oliver Farr from Shropshire bogeyed the last two holes for a level-par 71.
With just one round to qualify for the final 36 holes, 59 players on 74 or better qualified for the final 36 holes.Among those who missed were England internationals Luke Goddard (76), Farren Keenan (75) and Eddie Pepperell (81) along with Welsh Walker Cup man Nigel Edwards (75) and England captain Colin Edwards (78).

Brabazon Trophy Scoreboard

Moortown Golf Club, Leeds

Tournament reduced to three rounds

FIRST ROUND LEADERS
Par 71

68 C Curley.

69 D Wright, G Dear,T Adcock.

70 B Martin, N Raymond, N Kearney, L Burns.

71 T Fleetwood, H P Bacher, D Lernihan, A Birdseye, A Gabella-Wenne, R Roper, C Pigem, O Farr, A Hortal, S Hodgson, M Nixon, C Ford.

72 A Runcie, G Campbell, J Robinson, N Bertasio, J Vickery, J Abbott, J Hurst, S Haywood.

73 J Watts, P Cutler, M Haines, B Loughrey, R Kellett, P O'Hara, A Schwartz, A Dunbar, J Shepherd, P Oriol, A Ford

Selected scores

74 S McEwan, S Uzzell.

MISSED THE CUT

75 K McNicoll.

76 G Paterson, J Ross, J Byrne.

77 G Yates.

78 W Booth, S Borrowman.

SCORECARD NOTES:

Gavin Dear (34-35) birdied the long 1st, the fifth, the long seventh, the long 12th and the 14th. He had a bogey at the second and a double bogey 5 at the short 10th.

Glenn Campbell (38-34) had an eagle 3 at the long 12th and birdies at the long seventh and 15th. He had a double bogey 5 at the short eighth and also dropped shots at the ninth, 13th and 18th.

Ross Kellett (36-37) birdied the long first, the long seventh and the 11th. He dropped shots at the third, fourth, short 10th, 16th and 18th.

Paul O'Hara (37-36) birdied only the short 10th. He bogeyed the long seventh, 15th and 18th.

Steven McEwan (37-37) birdied the long first, the ninth and short 13th. He had a double bogey at the second and bogeys at the third, short 10th, 16th and 17th.

Wallace Booth (38-40) birdied the long 1st, the 11th and the long 12th. He bogeyed the second, third, short fourth, the short 10th and the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th.

Scott Borrowman (36-42) birdied only the 16th. He had a double bogey 6 at the second and bogeyed the third, fifth, sixth, ninth, 11th and 17th.

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).

A GRAND PERFORMANCE BY LOMAS

AT BUCHANAN CASTLE PRO-AM

Shropshire-born Jonathan Lomas, the 1994 European Tour Rookie of the Year who now lives in South Ayrshire between Turnberry and Troon, chipped in at the last to win the £1,111 top prize in today's £7,000 Buchanan Castle Golf Club pro-am.

Lomas, who won the 1996 Czech Open during his European Tour career, birdied the last for a six-under-par 64, which pipped Mark King (Kingsfield Golf Cenre) by a shot. King earned £889.

Lomas had seven birdies in all - at the first, fourth, sixth, eighth, 12th and 18th. His only bogey came at the 13th.

Four players tied for third place on 67 - Stephen McNally (Scottish Institute of Sport), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), host club professional Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle) and James Clive (Carrick). They each earned £475.

Ladybank's Alan Lockhart, who figured in a three-way tie for seventh place on 68 led the Risk Management Partners Team 5 of Charles Reppke (handicap 8), Derek Urquhart (11) and Joan Allan to victory in the team event with a net score of 15-under-par 55.

SCOREBOARD

Par 70

Leading professionals

64 Jonathan Lomas (unatt) £1,111.

65 Mark King (Kingsfield) £889.

67 Stephen McNally (Scottish Institute of Sport), Paul McKechnie (Braid Hills), Jason McCreadie (Buchanan Castle), James Clive (Carrick) £475 each.

68 Colin Gillies (Perry Golf), Stephen Gray (Hayston), Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) £248 each).

69 Ewan Davie (Dunblane New), Lindsay Mann (Carnoustie), Mark Loftus (Cowglen), Robert Farrell (Cardross) £163 each.

70 Edward Thomson (Senit Associates), David Orr (East Renfrewshire), Alastair MacKenzie (Duddingston) £122 each.

71 Christopher Russell (RAW Golf Course Design), Robert Arnott (Bishopbrigs GR), Gordon Law (Uphall) £89 each.

72 Euan Cameron (Hamilton) £66.

73 Kevin McAleer (Gleddoch), Fraser McLaughlan (Bothwell Castle), Ewan Hogarth (Peebles) £48 each.

74 Lee Vannet (Carnoustie GL), Dean Robertson (Mearns Castle) £48 each.

75 Keith Baxter (Buchanan Castle), Gordon Niven (Stirling Univ) £48 each.

77 Karyn Burns (Mearns Castle), Kenneth Monaghan (Bothwell Castle) £48 each.

78 Sean O'Donnell (Balbirnie Park) £48.

79 Greg Paxton (Ralston) £48.

Retired: Chris Campbell (Grantown on Spey) £48.

TEAM WINNERS

55 Alan Lockhart (Ladybank) & Risk Management Team 5: Charles Reppke (8), Derek Urquhart (11), Joan Allan (21).

Irish Open restarts after five-hour wind break

- but Graeme McDowell quits with shin splints

The 3 Irish Open resumed after a five hour delay for strong winds this afternoon - but new County Louth course record holder Graeme McDowell did not go back out on to the Baltray A day after his sensational 61, 16 strokes better than his first round and the lowest round of his professional life, McDowell quit because of shin splints.
The Northern Irishman had played eight holes in the morning gales before the suspension came just before 10am, but had three bogeys and a double bogey to drop from six under par to one under.
That put him 14 strokes adrift of shock halfway leader Shane Lowry, the 22 year old Irish amateur playing his first ever European Tour event.
Lowry had time to complete only one hole before it was decided the wind was too strong for play to continue.
He chipped to four feet on the first to rescue a par and so retained his two shot lead over England's Robert Rock, but Welshman Jamie Donaldson, joint second overnight, bogeyed the hole to go back to 13 under.
Conditions were still far from easy on the resumption, but in the two and three quarter hours that were possible at the start of the day the 73 players were a cumulative 117 over par.
McDowell said: “I picked up a bit of an injury on Thursday, yesterday it got progressively worse and walking from the range this morning I got on the phone to my physio.
"I'm not making any excuses, but I was really struggling to walk. It's only my second withdrawal and not something I want to get in the habit of doing, but I couldn't risk it with two big events coming up.
"They're extremely swollen and not a lot of fun. It's a matter of resting and icing it."
He hopes to be back for the BMW PGA Championship starting at Wentworth on Thursday.
Lowry had equalled the lowest round ever on The European Tour by an amateur with his second round 62, but another par at the long second was enough to open a three shot lead as Rock took six.
Colin Montgomerie played the first five in a superb one under to climb from 12th to sixth on ten under and among those he overtook were Lee Westwood and Oliver Wilson.
Westwood had bogey 6s on the second and third, while Ryder Cup team-mate Wilson bogeyed the first and third to drop to eight under as well.

James has two shots to make up if he is to

win Challenge Tour event in France

From Paul Symes, European Challenge Tour Press Officer
Lee S James will have to overturn a two-shot deficit on the final day of the Allianz Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne if he is to capture his fifth Challenge Tour title.
On another windswept day at Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André in Brittany, France, Florian Fritsch of Germany moved to the head of affairs on six under par, two clear of a trio of players which includes former British Amateur champion James.
The man from Dorset was joined on four under par by home hope Julien Guerrier, who matched James’ round of 71, and Sweden’s Joel Sjoholm, whose superb round of 66 was the joint lowest of the day with Fritsch.
Despite a bogey at the last hole, James still professed himself pleased with a round which keeps him in contention to capture his first title since August 2002, when he won the Finnish Challenge.
He said: “Although my score might not necessarily show it, I actually played pretty well today. Obviously I was pretty disappointed to drop a shot on the last, but overall I was pleased with how I struck the ball. I struggled on the greens again today, but sometimes the putts just don’t drop for you. If I putt tomorrow like I did on the first day, I’ll have half a chance.
“In a funny sort of way I hope the wind does blow again tomorrow, because I don’t mind playing in those sort of conditions. It obviously penalises those guys who can hit it a long way, but I’m not really one of them! I’m two shots behind, but if it’s windy again that can disappear in a second.
"If it’s calm like it was on the first day, I’m probably going to have to shoot five or six under to win. So I’ll assess the situation tomorrow. I’ll probably play steady to begin with, then hopefully take my chances as and when they come along.”
Hoping to deny James a fifth victory is Challenge Tour rookie Fritsch, who only turned professional last year. The 23 year old from Munich, who has spent the last few years playing on the college circuit in America, continued the fine form which saw him capture his first professional title on Germany's EPD Tour last week.
Like James, Fritsch also bogeyed the 18th hole, but an earlier eagle and four birdies have put him in sight of a maiden Challenge Tour title on his first appearance as a professional.
He said: “It’ll be a fairly new experience for me to play in the final group, but it’s something I’m looking forward to. It should be a lot of fun. Obviously I played in the last group on the final day of the EPD event I won last week, but if I’m being honest I probably didn’t expect to find myself in the same situation so soon.
"So it’s a bit of a surprise in a way, because obviously it’s a step up on the Challenge Tour. But in some ways it’s not a surprise, because I knew my game was in good shape coming into the week. I’m not really sure how I’ll react, although I’m sure the adrenaline will be pumping. We’ll find out more tomorrow!”
Scots Eric Ramsay from Carnoustie and Peter Whiteford are seven shots off the pace, both on the 211 mark. Ramsay needs to reverse the trend of his scores: 68-71-72 while Whiteford (70-70-71) will be looking to break 70 for the first time to get into the top 10 finishers.

HOW THEY STAND AFTER THREE ROUNDS
Par 210 (3x70)
204 F Fritsch (Ger) 65 73 66,
206 J Sjöholm (Swe) 66 74 66, J Guerrier (Fra) 66 69 71, L James (Eng) 65 70 71,
207 J Parry (Eng) 67 68 72,
208 T Feyrsinger (Aut) 69 69 70, F Praegant (Aut) 70 71 67, A Marshall (Eng) 70 68 70, J Quesne (Fra) 67 69 72, J Lima (Por) 68 70 70,
209 A Tampion (Aus) 68 68 73,
210 O Suhr (Den) 65 76 69, J Larsen (Nor) 67 71 72, P Golding (Eng) 69 72 69, R Kilpatrick (Nir) 69 72 69, S Jeppesen (Swe) 65 70 75, V Dubuisson (am) (Fra) 66 77 67,
211 N Joakimides (Fra) 69 72 70, B Alvarado (Chi) 71 70 70, L Brovold (Nor) 70 73 68, D Nouailhac (Fra) 70 68 73, E Ramsay (Sco) 68 71 72, P Whiteford (Sco) 70 70 71, A Butterfield (Eng) 75 69 67,
212 N Colsaerts (Bel) 68 73 71, P Relecom (Bel) 70 70 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 69 72 71, C Brazillier (Fra) 68 75 69,
213 D Küpper (Ger) 69 72 72, A Murray (Irl) 67 72 74, B Mason (Eng) 71 70 72, G Davies (Eng) 70 70 73, R Steiner (Aut) 73 71 69, G Houston (Wal) 75 69 69, P Gustafsson (Swe) 70 70 73, N Smith (USA) 70 74 69, R Coles (Eng) 66 76 71,
214 G Plumet (Fra) 69 71 74, L Kennedy (Eng) 69 74 71, A Gee (Eng) 68 73 73, A Hansen (Den) 67 74 73, J Ruth (Eng) 70 73 71, V Riu (Fra) 64 73 77,
215 P Del Grosso (Arg) 70 74 71, A Willey (Eng) 73 70 72, T Haylock (Eng) 68 71 76, M Mills (Eng) 70 74 71, F Calmels (Fra) 70 71 74, B Lecuona (Fra) 70 72 73, P Rowe (Eng) 69 72 74, A Kaleka (am) (Fra) 68 71 76
216 J Remesy (Fra) 73 69 74, T Whitehouse (Eng) 70 71 75, F Cupillard (Fra) 72 72 72, A Bruschi (Ita) 71 73 72, B Hebert (Fra) 69 73 74
217 M Ford (Eng) 71 70 76, A Zanini (Ita) 73 70 74, R Steele (Eng) 70 71 76, A Mellor (Eng) 71 72 74
218 J Sköld (Swe) 72 72 74, J Billot (Fra) 68 73 77, J Guillet (Fra) 70 73 75, M Zions (Aus) 65 79 74, A Joudar (Mar) 71 73 74, I Pyman (Eng) 70 74 74
219 M Haastrup (Den) 69 74 76
220 B Miarka (Ger) 66 77 77
221 C Suneson (Esp) 71 72 78, G Hutcheon (Sco) 69 74 78
222 J Blaauw (RSA) 69 72 81
223 A Bernadet (Fra) 69 74 80
225 D Ulrich (Sui) 69 75 81
226 F Schoettel (Fra) 69 72 85

Strong winds halt third round of Irish Open

Play had to be suspended because of strong winds after the leaders had just begun their third rounds in The 3 Irish Open at County Louth.
Tee times were brought forward as much as possible because the forecast was for conditions to get even worse during the afternoon, but there were 30mph gusts right from the start.
And just before 10am, with rain lashing down and making conditions even more unpleasant, officials decided the links were unplayable and brought the players in.
Local amateur Shane Lowry, playing his first European Tour event, was the shock halfway leader on a tournament record 15 under par, his second round 62 equalling the lowest round ever by an amateur on the circuit.
The 22 year old, whose father Brendan was a famous Gaelic footballer, parred the 454 yard first with a fine chip to four feet, but that was the only hole he had completed before the action was halted.
Lowry still led by two from England's Robert Rock, but Welshman Jamie Donaldson, joint second overnight, failed to get up and down from left of the green and bogeyed to slip back to 12 under.
Colin Montgomerie was among those who had been coping well in the treacherous conditions. A birdie at the long third and pars on the first, second and fourth lifted the Ryder Cup captain to ten under and joint seventh.
But Graeme McDowell, who yesterday improved an amazing 16 shots on his opening 77 and broke the course record by two, was struggling on the much more difficult back nine.
The Ulsterman bogeyed the tenth and 13th, double bogeyed the short 15th and dropped another on the next to be back to only one under.
Compatriot Rory McIlroy stood five under after one birdie and three bogeys in the first eight holes.
After two days of spectacularly low scoring, the 73 survivors were a cumulative 117 over par for the holes played this morning when the suspension came.
That included Paul McGinley and Swede Alexander Noren both having triple bogey 7s on the 11th.

Corey Pavin wanted entire US team to be captain's pick!

American Ryder Cup captain Corey Pavin has revealed that on taking the job he asked if he could have 12 wild cards and select the entire side for Celtic Manor himself.
Pavin was appointed by the Professional Golfers' Association of America last December and he said at this week's Texas Open: "I asked if I could have 12 captain's picks. They just kind of laughed.
"I was serious -- the more the better. But I also think there is some merit to playing your way on the team."
Pavin, who like predecessor Paul Azinger will have "only" four picks, was reacting to this week's decision by Europe to give captain Colin Montgomerie a third wild card.
"Last time we were the ones trying to break a losing streak," added Pavin. "Now they are trying to win.
"Changing to three picks must have meant we did something right (Azinger had his number doubled to four). They are trying to do something to help them."
Pavin is playing in next month's Wales Open at Celtic Manor to familiarise himself with the venue for the match in October next year.
He and Montgomerie will have their first face-to-face conversation there since their appointments.
"I called him when he was named captain and left a message and he called me and left one a couple of weeks ago," said the former US Open champion.
"Going overseas is always harder in general," he said. "They will have the crowd, they will have the weather and the conditions on their side. That's why I have started to encourage as many Americans as possible to come over to Wales."

Ernie Els opts out of European Open

Ernie Els has changed his mind about playing the European Open at The London Club in Kent the week after next.
At the start of the month it was announced that the former Open and US Open champion would be competing in the event for the first time in 15 years, but a spokesman for Els' management company confirmed today that he had pulled out.
"It is nothing sinister and purely a scheduling thing," said Martin Hardy. "Ernie occasionally gets a few twinges in his knee and looked at his preparations for the US Open."
The 39-year-old South African will play in next week's BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth - the course he has re-designed and where he has won a record seven World Match Plays - before returning to the United States for The Memorial in Ohio on June 4-7.
That comes two weeks before the second major of the year at Bethpage Black on New York's Long Island.
Els had surgery on his knee after a boating accident in 2005.

US PGA Scoreboard
VALERO TEXAS OPEN
The Resort Course at La Cantera GC, San Antonio
SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 140 (2x70)
128 Paul Goydos 63 65
131 Justin Leonard 63 68, Scott Sterling 68 63, Ted Purdy 64 67, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 66 65, John Mallinger 67 64
132 Brian Davis (Eng) 65 67, Kent Jones 67 65, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 66 66
133 Marc Leishman (Aus) 64 69, J.P. Hayes 71 62, Greg Owen (Eng) 65 68, Stephen Ames (Can) 66 67
134 Jeff Maggert 64 70, Bill Haas 67 67, Lee Janzen 66 68, Briny Baird 68 66
135 Kris Blanks 70 65, Kevin Stadler 67 68, Aron Price (Aus) 69 66, Zach Johnson 68 67, Tag Ridings 69 66, Brandt Jobe 70 65, David Duval 66 69
136 Patrick Sheehan 68 68, Charles Warren 70 66, Marco Dawson 68 68, Bart Bryant 70 66, Wil Collins 67 69, Greg Chalmers (Aus) 69 67, Harrison Frazar 67 69, James Driscoll 67 69, Matthew Jones (Aus) 67 69, J J Henry 66 70, Jimmy Walker 70 66, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 69
137 Scott McCarron 70 67, Gary Woodland 67 70, Todd Fischer 70 67, James Nitties (Aus) 68 69, Chad Campbell 68 69, Bob Estes 67 70, Jay Williamson 69 68, Scott Gutschewski 71 66, Carlos Franco (Par) 71 66, Scott Verplank 67 70, Robert Gates 73 64, Matt Weibring 67 70, Frank Lickliter II 69 68
138 Anthony Kim 69 69, Bill Lunde 73 65, Vaughn Taylor 70 68, Chris DiMarco 72 66, Corey Pavin 66 72, Garrett Willis 68 70, Troy Matteson 72 66
139 Jonathan Kaye 71 68, Charley Hoffman 70 69, Paul Stankowski 70 69, Matt Bettencourt 68 71, Nathan Green (Aus) 70 69, Shaun Micheel 67 72, David Peoples 72 67, Robin Freeman 70 69, Jason Gore 70 69, Tim Herron 68 71, Eric Axley 72 67, Mark Brooks 71 68, Martin Piller 69 70, Mark Wilson 67 72, Charlie Wi (Kor) 68 71, Billy Andrade 72 67, Dustin Johnson 74 65, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 68, Matt Loving 72 67, Rocco Mediate 69 70
MISSED THE CUT
140 Peter Tomasulo 70 70, Spencer Levin 73 67, Tom Byrum 72 68, Colt Knost 70 70, Steve Allan (Aus) 70 70, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 70 70, Heath Slocum 71 69, Tim Wilkinson (Nzl) 69 71, Bob Burns 70 70, Daniel Chopra (Swe) 71 69, Notah Begay III 68 72, Ryan Palmer 69 71, Rich Beem 69 71, Bryce Molder 70 70, Tyler Aldridge 72 68
141 Chris Riley 72 69, Lance Ten Broeck 71 70, Greg Kraft 70 71, Chez Reavie 70 71, Brian Bateman 72 69, Ricky Barnes 71 70, Joe Durant 73 68, Brian Vranesh 72 69, Dean Wilson 67 74, Tommy Gainey 71 70, Nicholas Thompson 72 69, D.J. Trahan 74 67
142 David Ogrin 72 70, Neal Lancaster 73 69, Casey Wittenberg 70 72, Matthew Borchert 74 68, D.A. Points 75 67, Jarrod Lyle (Aus) 72 70, Grant Waite (Nzl) 68 74, Guy Boros 70 72, Jim McGovern 75 67, Troy Kelly 72 70, Dicky Pride 71 71, Rick Price 73 69
143 Willie Wood 66 77, Brad Adamonis 73 70, Omar Uresti 73 70, Darron Stiles 74 69, Mark Hensby (Aus) 69 74, Tadd Fujikawa 72 71, Derek Fathauer 68 75, Cameron Beckman 74 69, David Mathis 75 68, John Huston 71 72, Bob Heintz 71 72
144 Brendon De Jonge 74 70, Roland Thatcher 73 71, Glen Day 71 73, J.L. Lewis 72 72, Jesper Parnevik (Swe) 70 74
145 Robert Gamez 76 69, Jay Delsing 70 75, Chris Stroud 72 73, Jim, jr. Gallagher 72 73, Stephen Dartnell (Aus) 73 72, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 71 74
146 Brendon Todd 75 71, Joe Ogilvie 76 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 73 73, Jason Day (Aus) 76 70
147 Steve Pate 72 75, Kirk Triplett 79 68, Ted Schulz 74 73, James Oh (Kor) 72 75
148 Tim Thelen 73 75, Aaron Watkins 78 70, Phil Tataurangi (Nzl) 72 76, Mike Heinen 73 75, Christopher Baryla (Can) 74 74
150 Trevor Dodds (Nam) 70 80, Leif Olson 79 71
152 Kenny Knox 78 74
153 Nolan Henke 79 74
157 Jose Coceres (Arg) 80 77

US Nationwide Tour
BMW CHARITY PRO-AM
Thornblade Club, The Carolina CC & Bright's Creek GC
SECOND-ROUND LEADERS
Par 143 (1x72, 1x71)
130 Jeff Gove 65 65.
131 Fabian Gomez 63 68, Jon Mills 65 66.
132 Scott Dunlap 65 67, Bubba Dickerson 68 64, Daniel Summerhays 65 67.
133 Michael Sim (Sco) 68 65, D J Brigman 66 67, Chris Smith 66 67, Scott Parel 71 62.
Selected scores:
139 Keith Nolan (Ire) 74 65.
142 Gary Christian (Eng) 69 73.
152 Matthew Richardson (Eng) 77 75.

Paul McGinley to captain GB&I in Paris

Just four months after he was made Ryder Cup captain, Colin Montgomerie has been instrumental in boosting the chances that Paul McGinley will be the man in charge at Gleneagles in 2014.
McGinley was called by the Scot this week and offered the opportunity to lead Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe in the Vivendi Trophy - previously known as the Seve Trophy - in Paris in September.
The Dubliner, who two years ago stood down as one of Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup assistants because he wanted to try to make the team, this time accepted.
"I didn't know anything about it until Monty called. I slept on it, but obviously I'm thrilled," said McGinley.
"I don't know how good a captain I'm going to be, but I have a lot of strong ideas and opinions on why teams have been successful."