European Amateur: O'Rourke in the mix at Walton Heath
Naas' Conor O'Rourke in action at Walton Heath. Picture © Leaderboard Photography
Conor O'Rourke will carry Irish hopes into the final round of the European Amateur Championship when he bids to close a three-shot gap on a trio of leaders at Walton Heath.
The Naas man, one of Ireland's leading contenders for a Walker Cup call-up this year, made an eagle, three birdies and three bogeys in a two-under par 70 to share ninth place on nine-under 207.
It wasn't quite the round he was looking for but he still has a fighting chance of a big finish with the top 16 players on the leaderboard covered by just four shots.
Italian's Lucan Cianchetti (67) and Lorenzo Scalise (65) share top spot with Frenchman Jeremy Gandon (67) on 12-under par, one clear of England's Alfie Plant (67).
Eight of the 10 Irish entrants made the two-under par cut with Whitehead's John-Ross Galbraith (66), Warrenpoint's Colm Campbell (69) and The Island's Paul McBride (72) tied for 29th, seven shots off the pace.
Tullamore's Stuart Grehan (71) and Tramore's Robin Dawson (72) are nine behind the leaders on three-under with Naas' Jonny Yates (70) and Portmarnock's Conor Purcell (7) a shot further back.
The cut fell at two-under 214 which meant Castle's Alex Gleeson (73) missed by one with Laytown and Bettystown's Thomas Mulligan (74) six further back.
European Amateur Championship, Walton Heath (Old Course, Par 72)
T1 CIANCHETTI, Luca (Modena Golf) 70 67 67 204
T1 GANDON, Jeremy (Rcf La Boulie) 66 71 67 204
T1 SCALISE, Lorenzo (Golf Club Milano) 64 75 65 204
4 PLANT, Alfie (Sundridge Park) 72 66 67 205
T5 HERRMANN, Alexander (Gc Stuttgart Solitude) 69 68 69 206
T5 FRANSSEN, Rory (Inverness) 67 70 69 206
T5 PERRY, Dylan (The Vintage) 66 69 71 206
T5 DE LANGE, Keegan (Pretoria Country Club) 65 72 69 206
T9 MCMAHON, Joshua (Wallasey GC) 70 67 70 207
T9 SCOTT, Sandy (The Nairn Golf Club) 69 71 67 207
T9 BROWN, Daniel (Masham) 68 73 66 207
T9 O’ROURKE, Conor (Naas) 67 70 70 207
T29 GALBRAITH, John-Ross (Whitehead) 75 70 66 211
T29 CAMPBELL, Colm (Warrenpoint) 70 72 69 211
T29 MCBRIDE, Paul (The Island) 70 69 72 211
T45 GREHAN, Stuart (Tullamore) 70 72 71 213
T45 DAWSON, Robin (Tramore) 68 73 72 213
T53 YATES, Jonathan (Naas) 72 72 70 214
T53 PURCELL, Conor (Portmarnock) 72 72 70 214
Cut ( -2 / 214)
MC GLEESON, Alex (Castle) 73 69 73 215
MC MULLIGAN, Thomas (Laytown And Bettystown) 70 77 74 221
