Duncan Stewart slips to T22 in Morocco after a third-round 74

Irishman Dunne set for first Euro Tour win 

EUROPEAN TOUR COMMUNICATIONS

Paul Dunne (Getty Images)

Paul Dunne took one huge step towards a maiden professional title after the Irishman opened up a two-shot lead heading into the final round of the Trophée Hassan II in Morocco.

The 24 year old famously entered the final round of The 2015 Open Championship in a share of the lead, while still an amateur, and he will be hoping to learn from the disappointing final day he endured at St Andrews that day as he takes a lead into the final 18 holes for the first time in his professional career.

Dunne began brightly at Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, opening with a birdie before adding two more for a three under front nine.

He picked up a shot each at the tenth and 12^th holes to move three clear but a double-bogey at the 13^th pegged him back.

Having found the rough with his drive and then again with his second shot at the long par five 18^th hole, he managed a superb up-and-down courtesy of a delightful 25-foot putt for a closing birdie and a four under par 69 to move to an eight under total.

Another promising young star of European golf, Renato Paratore, put in the performance of the day as the 20 year old Italian carded a seven under course-record 66 to move from one shot off the cut line to second place on six under.

Spain’s Pablo Larrazábal, Paul Waring of England and Dane Lasse Jensen were all a shot further back on five under.

Grantown on Spey's Duncan Stewart, after a pair of 72s, slipped to a third-round 74 and is T22 on one-under 218.

Stewart, who is based in Edinburgh for travel convenience, sbirdied the third, fifth, 15th and 18th but had a double bogey 6 at the 11th and started the day with a bogey at the first.

Fellow Scot David Drysdale has scored 72, 76 and 71 for T30 on 219.

Player quotes: 

Paul Dunne

“I’ve been playing well recently and I haven’t played a tournament for four weeks with the break we had so I felt like it took me a while to get going with my swing this week.

“But today was a much easier round that the last couple of days. I didn’t putt as well as I did in the last couple of days but I hit the ball a lot better. I’m really pleased, I’ve been doing some good work and I’m happy with where I am.

“I’ve picked up four miles an hour clubhead speed in the last year. I don’t know what I’d put it down to, a couple of tweaks in my swing, a bit of work in the gym or a bit more stretching but it’s helping. I’ve been hitting it straighter than I have in the past too and that helps around here.

“I can definitely learn from The 2015 Open. St Andrews is so different, there were thousands of people there and it’s a big amphitheatre atmosphere.

“I wasn’t expecting to be leading there and it was a bit of a bonus. Now, I’m kind of expecting to be leading if I play well. It’s different, I feel like I’m more ready to win than I was then. I feel like it’s something I should do rather than like the end of a great story. I will learn from it but it will be a different atmosphere tomorrow.

“If I break 70 again I think it’s going to be hard for someone to catch me so I’m just going to try and do that.”

Renato Paratore

“I played really well today, holed a lot of putts and that helped me a lot today. Everything was good and then in the last six holes, I finished really well so it was a great round.

“I played really solid from the tee and the short game was really good too. I think it is probably my best round on the European Tour. It’s a nice thing for me, it’s always good to shoot a course record.

“It’s a really tough course because from the tee it’s narrow and the greens are really tight so it’s a good test. It’s really nice to play in the final groups tomorrow, it will be a very nice day.”

Pablo Larrazábal

“It demanded a lot of patience and a lot of good play today. After eight holes with seven pars and one bogey, I holed a four metre putt on nine and that got my round going and I finished with four birdies on the back nine and as I see, it’s put me in contention for tomorrow.

“The fun part about playing golf is being in contention on Sunday and to be in contention this weekend I had to go low today on the back nine after the first eight holes. We changed gear and tried to be aggressive and it worked out.

“The conditions were tougher today. The wind was a little bit stronger, a little like yesterday afternoon. The first day was the easiest but the scoring wasn’t that good. It’s a strong wind out there, a club wind, and you have to play good golf to go as low as I did.

“I’m pleased with the way I played, the way I kept patient. I know I’m hitting the ball very well and I know on tough golf courses like this I’m playing well enough to go low and that’s what happened.”

Paul Waring

“Obviously I played really well today at times. I feel like I controlled the pretty well, the wind is swirling around a bit. I gave myself some chances and holed a few putts.

“It’s lovely to be back, to get some sun on my back again as opposed to the rain and wind at home. I put myself in a position a couple of months ago in South Africa, so it’s something I can build from. I know what to expect tomorrow and I’m looking forward to getting involved and we’ll see where we end up.”

Lasse Jensen

“I played quite solid out there today. I started out really well, struggled in the middle part of the round and then I finished it off very nicely.

“It’s a super test, it’s a fair test, not stupid tough. If you play well you get rewarded and if you don’t it’s very punishing so you just need to bring you’re A-game really.

“I’m delighted, it’s a very tight leaderboard so I’m quite happy where I am and who knows what can happen tomorrow.”

Scores:

211 P Dunne (Irl) 73 69 69,
213 R Paratore (Ita) 73 74 66,
214 P Waring (Eng) 74 71 69, P Larrazábal (Esp) 72 73 69, L Jensen (Den) 75 69 70,
215 G Havret (Fra) 70 70 75, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 71 73, L Bjerregaard (Den) 70 71 74, T Fisher Jnr (RSA) 71 70 74, E Molinari (Ita) 71 74 70, D Frittelli (RSA) 71 72 72,
216 C Pigem (Esp) 75 72 69, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 72 72 72, R Gonzalez (Arg) 74 71 71, V Dubuisson (Fra) 73 71 72, C Hanson (Eng) 74 70 72,
217 R Gouveia (Por) 75 69 73, A Wall (Eng) 74 73 70, D Brooks (Eng) 73 71 73, J Campillo (Esp) 74 69 74, M Pavon (Fra) 72 73 72,
218 S Heisele (Ger) 72 73 73, D Stewart (Sco) 72 72 74, D Burmester (RSA) 78 70 70, J Luiten (Ned) 75 72 71, J Smith (Eng) 73 75 70, A Otaegui (Esp) 73 72 73, T Lewis (Eng) 75 68 75, M Manassero (Ita) 72 74 72,
219 J Winther (Den) 72 74 73, A Chesters (Eng) 73 74 72, L Slattery (Eng) 74 72 73, J Stalter (Fra) 76 72 71, D Drysdale (Sco) 72 76 71, C Paisley (Eng) 76 72 71, P Edberg (Swe) 71 73 75, A Rai (Eng) 72 75 72, R Karlberg (Swe) 75 73 71, M Nixon (Eng) 74 73 72, S Tiley (Eng) 75 72 72, A Karlsson (Swe) 72 73 74,
220 J Van Zyl (RSA) 71 75 74, A Levy (Fra) 71 75 74, G Stal (Fra) 70 75 75, M Ilonen (Fin) 72 73 75,
221 R Wattel (Fra) 72 76 73, D Im (USA) 74 73 74, B Hebert (Fra) 75 68 78, A Saddier (Fra) 73 73 75, J Morrison (Eng) 70 72 79, M Foster (Eng) 72 74 75, L Canter (Eng) 74 73 74, S Soderberg (Swe) 73 73 75, H Porteous (RSA) 77 70 74, J Lagergren (Swe) 75 73 73,
222 R Bland (Eng) 74 73 75, M Orrin (Eng) 71 76 75, M Armitage (Eng) 76 70 76, R Johnson (Swe) 72 76 74, J Fahrbring (Swe) 73 75 74, W Ormsby (Aus) 75 71 76,
223 M Southgate (Eng) 75 73 75, J Guerrier (Fra) 76 71 76, S Gros (Fra) 77 70 76, A Cañizares (Esp) 72 76 75,
224 D Perrier (Fra) 74 74 76, J Edfors (Swe) 73 71 80, A Lguirati (am) (Mar) 76 71 77, 226 J Dantorp (Swe) 73 74 79, B Evans (Eng) 72 75 79, R Echenique (Arg) 73 74 79,

LEADING THIRD ROUND SCORES

par 219 (3x73)

211 Paul Dunne (Ireland) 73 69 69.

213 Renato Paratore (Italy) 73 64 66.

214 Paul Waring (England) 74 71 69, Pablo Larrazabal (Spain) 72  73 69, Lasse Jensen (Denmark) 75 69 70.

SELECTED SCORES
218 Duncan Stewart (Scotland) 72 72 74 (T22).

219 David Drysdale (Scotland) 72 76 71.

MISSED THE CUT

150 Richie Ramsay 74 76, Scott Jamieson 72 78.

153 Stephen Gallacher 78 75.

155 Scott Henry 79 76

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