Royal Dublin's Niall Kearney fired a best of the day three under par 69 to move into a share of second place with a round to play in the 106th Irish PGA Championship at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort.

The 28-year-old Dubliner is chasing a hat-trick of titles this week and produced a composed round of golf in difficult wet and windy conditions to finish the day alongside Damien McGrane on seven under par, just one shot behind Drive Golf Performance's Colm Moriarty.

“It was very difficult out there at the start,” said Kearney who was out in one over 37 but came home in four under 32.

“I was kind of happy to make the turn in one over given the conditions. I got it going on the back nine a little bit – holed a few putts and chipped in on 16 – so I got a few wee breaks like that.

“I'm happy to be in the mix. I'm not hitting it great but I'll go out tomorrow and try and do something similar, see what happens.”

Moriarty was relieved to survive a testing day and was content to post a two under par round of 70.

“I played nicely. It was tough because the weather when we started wasn't very nice but it did improve a bit,” said Moriarty.

“It was just a matter of keeping your ball under control as much as you could with your iron shots. It was just one of those days, do nothing fancy and grind out some sort of score.”

With only four shots separating the top five players everything is set up for an exciting conclusion on Sunday. The action will get underway at 9am, with the leading three-ball starting at 10.20am. 

• The 106th Irish PGA Championship is being staged - In Association with Title Sponsors Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort, Official Media Partners Golf Digest Ireland and Classic Hits 4FM and with support from House of Waterford Crystal and Skycaddie.

106th PGA Irish Championship, Sponsored by Moyvalley Hotel & Golf Resort (Par 72)

Detailed scores

208 Colm Moriarty (Drive Golf Performance Ltd) 70 68 70 

209 Niall Kearney (Royal Dublin) 70 70 69, Damien McGrane 73 66 70

210 Simon Thornton 65 74 71

212 Neil O'Briain (Old Conna) 72 69 71

213 James Quinlivan (Mullingar) 70 72 71, Eamonn Brady (Clontarf) 68 71 74

215 David Higgins (Waterville) 71 73 71, Michael McDermott (Pure Golf Leopardstown) 71 72 72

216 David Barry (Douglas) 71 74 71

217 Mark O'Mahony (Titleist National Fitting Centre) 70 75 72, Glen Robinson 71 72 74

219 Daniel Beattie (Deer Park Hotel Golf & Spa) 72 70 77, Cian McNamara (Monkstown) 69 73 77

220 Tara Delaney (The Eddie Doyle Golf Academy) 74 75 71, Michael McGeady 77 71 72, Brian McElhinney (North West) 72 74 74, Brendan McGovern (Headfort) 73 71 76

221 Andy Hogan (Edmondstown) 69 77 75

222 Mark Staunton (Delgany) 75 72 75

223 Richard Kilpatrick (Banbridge) 70 82 71, Damian Mooney (Nevada Bobs Belfast) 73 71 79

224 Steven Quinlan 72 77 75, Kenny Fahey (GUI National Academy) 73 76 75, Gary Chambers (Killymoon) 77 73 74, Ciaran Molloy (Blackwood Golf Centre) 75 74 75, Dara Lernihan (Elm Park) 76 76 72

225 Christopher Carvill (Belvoir Park) 69 79 77, Mark Whelan (Castlewarden Golf & CC) 74 79 72

226 Jerry Scullion (Kilkeel) 73 78 75, Hazel Kavanagh (Carr Golf Centre at Spawell) 77 76 73

227 David Leathem (Nevada Bobs Belfast) 81 71 75, Keith Shannon 68 78 81

228 Adam Dunmore (Bundoran) 76 74 78, Jimmy Bolger (Kilkenny) 77 74 77, Mark Murphy (McGuirks Golf) 77 77 74, David Ryan (Cahir Park) 77 78 73

229 Matthew Dunmore (Bundoran) 72 79 78

230 Eddie Doyle (The Eddie Doyle Golf Academy) 4 71 78 81, Peter O'Hagan (Luttrellstown Castle) 77 75 78, David Foley (Dromoland Castle GC) 75 77 78, Patrick Sheehy (McGuirks Golf) 77 77 76

231 Scott Wilson (Co. Louth) 74 76 81, Shane Jenkinson (St Margaret's Golf & CC) 75 79 77

232 Josh Adams (Unattached) 81 74 77

233 Shaun Donnelly (Castle Hume) 73 80 80, John Dignam (Slade Valley) 74 81 78

234 Brian Jnr McCormack (Edenderry Golf Academy) 77 77 80

235 Paul Stevenson (Portadown) 75 79 81

238 Brian Doheny (Mount Juliet) 75 76 87

242 Ciaran McKenna (Mallow) 74 78 90