McGee on track for Christy O'Connor Memorial Trophy at Mount Wolseley
Ruaidhri McGee. Picture: Getty Images

Ruaidhri McGee. Picture: Getty Images

Ruaidhri McGee is nine shots off the lead but on track to win the Christy O’Connor Jnr Memorial Trophy for the leading Irishman in the Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort.

The Derry man shot a second successive 69 to share 17th on three under par at the Tullow venue, two shots ahead of Cormac Sharvin (72), with Chris Selfridge (71) and David Carey (76) two and three over par respectively.

Victory in the tournament looks beyond the Irish contingent after Frenchman Julien Guerrier, who triumphed on home soil in June at the Hauts de France Golf Open, shot a bogey-free, seven under par 65, the lowest of the week in a cold and wet Carlow, to move to 12 under par.

He leads by a shot from first and second round leader Oscar Lengden, the winner of last week’s Bridgestone Challenge, who made six birdies with three bogeys but his 69 to get to 11 under par

Guerrier is second on the Road to Oman and knows that a win will close the gap significantly on rankings leader Aaron Rai with just six events in the season remaining after this one.

Irish Challenge hosted by Mount Wolseley Hotel, Spa & Golf Resort (Par 72)

Detailed scores

204 J Guerrier (Fra) 71 68 65, 

205 O Lengden (Swe) 68 68 69, 

207 J Arnoy (Nor) 73 68 66, 

208 S Brown (Eng) 72 68 68, 

209 J Dantorp (Swe) 74 68 67, 

210 G Schoeb (Fra) 71 73 66, C Ford (Eng) 70 74 66, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 73 70 67, M Trappel (Aut) 74 69 67, 

211 K Samooja (Fin) 73 68 70, R Saxton (Ned) 73 68 70, 

212 J Van Der Vaart (Ned) 73 70 69, O Lindell (Fin) 72 69 71, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 72 68 72, M Nixon (Eng) 74 70 68, C Braeunig (Ger) 72 70 70, 

213 Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) 75 69 69, M Madsen (Den) 72 69 72, B Hellgren (Swe) 75 70 68, J McLeary (Sco) 77 69 67, 

214 B Paolini (USA) 77 69 68, C Sordet (Fra) 72 71 71, T Santos Silva (Por) 75 70 69, M Fenasse (Fra) 74 67 73, A Bernadet (Fra) 73 73 68, 

215 W Enefer (Eng) 74 72 69, D Law (Sco) 70 74 71, J Sarasti (Esp) 72 70 73, E Cuartero Blanco (Esp) 75 69 71, Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 75 68 72, M Baldwin (Eng) 71 72 72, 

216 T Perrot (Fra) 74 72 70, D Van Driel (Ned) 70 74 72, N Lindstrom (Swe) 72 75 69, M Ovesen (Den) 72 75 69, 

217 A Kristiansen (Nor) 73 72 72, J Vecchi Fossa (Ita) 69 77 71, P Martin Benavides (Esp) 76 70 71, 

218 G Forrest (Sco) 70 73 75, G King (Eng) 73 74 71, M Wolf (Ger) 74 72 72, D Fox (Aus) 74 70 74, F Maccario (Ita) 71 75 72, J Harrison (Eng) 75 71 72, Chris Selfridge (Nir) 75 72 71, J Wrisdale (Eng) 74 71 73, 

219 David Carey (Irl) 72 71 76, B Poke (Den) 74 73 72, R McCarthy (Aus) 72 75 72, H Joannes (Bel) 72 74 73, G Boyd (Eng) 72 72 75, L Nemecz (Aut) 76 71 72, 

220 M Laskey (Wal) 72 74 74, A Wennstam (Swe) 76 69 75, R Kellett (Sco) 75 70 75, O Rozner (Fra) 74 73 73, P Eriksson (Swe) 75 72 73, 

221 H Smart (Eng) 75 71 75, L Johnson (Eng) 76 71 74, N Johansson (Swe) 77 70 74, 

223 J Makitalo (Fin) 75 72 76