Hutcheon and O'Hara share lead at Gleneagles with a round to go

Two-time winner Greig Hutcheon eagled the final hole on the King's Course at Gleneagles for the third day running to share the lead with Paul O'Hara in the M and H Logistics Scottish PGA Championship.

The pair are locked together on 10-under-par after 54 holes in the Tartan Tour's flagship event, a shot ahead of Chris Currie, with Greg McBain, Paul McKechnie and Graham Fox also still in the mix heading into the final circuit.

Hutcheon, the halfway leader, had already dropped shots at the first and seventh in a stuttering start to his third round on a sunny day at the Perthshire venue before holing a 10-footer to save par at the tenth.

The 46-year-old, who is attached to Paul Lawrie Golf Centre, then birdied the 12th and 13th as he found his stride before once again taming the 18th hole on the James Braid-designed course.

In the second round, he'd been left with just a 9-iron for his second shot from around 160 yards but from a new back being used for the first time it proved a tougher proposition.

"It was 295 yards to get over the saddle from the tee we used today and I watched both Paul O'Hara and Paul McKechnie (playing in the group in front) hit their tee shots into the upslope," said Hutcheon.

"It was going to be a big hit for me to get over it so I said to "Shifter" (his caddie) that I should take a 5-wood off the tee to stay out of any trouble then hit a 5-wood again for my second shot.

"It worked a treat as my second shot from 277 yards came off perfectly. In fact, it almost went in for an albatross."

O'Hara, who has been knocking at the door in this event in recent years, set up another last-day title tilt with a second successive six-under 66.

The 32-year-old, who is attached to North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd, was level-par for the day through seven holes before reeling off back-to-back birdies.

He then added four more on the back nine to give himself a chance to claim the one big prize that has eluded him so far on the PGA in Scotland circuit.

"I played quite steady today and it would be nice to go out tomorrow and complete the set of Tartan Tour titles," admitted O'Hara.

Unlike the others up at the top of the leaderboard, he has already secured a place in the PGA Play-Offs in Turkey next month through finishing runner-up in the PGA Pros Championship earlier in the year.

"I am also playing in the PGA EuroPro Tour Championship in Spain next week, so there's a lot of opportunities late in the season," added O'Hara.

Currie, a member of last year's PGA Cup-winning side at Foxhills in Surrey, moved into third spot on the back of a 65, which was matched by Fox, the 2012 champion.

"It is good to be in the mix as my season has been mince," declared Erskine pro Currie.

THIRD-ROUND SCOREBOARD

T1	Paul O'Hara   North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd	-4	F	-10	68	66	66		200
T1	Greig Hutcheon   Paul Lawrie Golf Centre	-2	F	-10	68	64	68		200
3	Christopher Currie   Erskine Golf Club	-5	F	-9	67	69	65		201
4	Greg McBain   Newmachar Golf Club	-1	F	-8	66	67	69		202
5	Paul McKechnie   Braid Hills Golf Range	-2	F	-7	67	68	68		203
6	Graham Fox   Clydeway Golf	-5	F	-6	68	71	65		204
7	Jamie McLeary	-1	F	-5	67	69	69		205
8	Steven O'Hara   North Lanarkshire Leisure Ltd	-5	F	-4	71	70	65		206
9	Craig Lee   Craig Lee Golf Studio	-4	F	-3	70	71	66		207
10	Neil Fenwick   Dunbar Golf Club	+2	F	-2	67	69	72		208
T11	Gareth Wright   West Linton Golf Club	-2	F	E	72	70	68		210
T11	Alastair Forsyth   Mearns Castle Golf Academy	E	F	E	72	68	70		210
T11	Andrew Oldcorn   Kings Acre Golf Course	+1	F	E	69	70	71		210
T11	Chris Kelly   Scotland for Golf	+2	F	E	62	76	72		210
T15	James Steven   Pumpherston Golf Club	-2	F	+1	73	70	68		211
T15	Stephen Gray   Lanark Golf Club	+1	F	+1	69	71	71		211
T15	Gavin Hay   Mearns Castle Golf Academy	+2	F	+1	71	68	72		211
T18	Fraser McKenna   Caldwell Golf Club	-1	F	+2	69	74	69		212
T18	Michael Patterson   Williamwood Golf Club	+4	F	+2	71	67	74		212
T18	Thomas Higson   The Gleneagles Hotel	+6	F	+2	69	67	76		212
T21	Graeme Brown   Montrose Golf Links Ltd.	E	F	+3	70	73	70		213
T21	Cameron Farrell   Cardross Golf Club	+2	F	+3	70	71	72		213
T21	Greg Paxton   Ralston Golf Club	+2	F	+3	72	69	72		213
T24	Kris Nicol   Dunes Golf Centre	+2	F	+4	72	70	72		214
T24	Graeme McDougall   Elie Links	+2	F	+4	76	66	72		214
T26	James McGhee   Swanston Golf Club	+3	F	+5	68	74	73		215
T26	Zack Saltman	+5	F	+5	71	69	75		215
28	Craig Ronald   Carluke Golf Club	+4	F	+6	72	70	74		216
29	Ross Munro   Duddingston Golf Club	+3	F	+7	75	69	73		217
30	Ross Cameron	+6	F	+10	72	72	76		220
31	Marc Owenson   Gullane Golf Club	+8	F	+11	71	72	78		221
32	Rory Tinker   Piperdam Golf and Leisure Resort	+9	F	+13	73	71	79		223