WHAT A RAHMMY putts (on the back nine) to make it the superb round I thought it was going to be.” Rahm, bidding to emulate golfing hero Seve Ballesteros who won back-to-back Irish Open titles in the 1980s, needs to go low when he tees it up at 12.14pm to
Defending champion left frustrated as his chances disappear over the horizon ALL THE ACTION FROM BALLYLIFFEN
REIGNING champion Jon Rahm went close to thumping an official signage board as the Irish Open’s big hitters were forced onto the ropes by Erik Van Rooyen.
Rooyen, who set the course record with a stunning 65 on Friday, shot an impressive bogey-free third round 66 to cruise four shots clear of the chasing pack on 14under. While Rahm gave himself a fighting chance with a 67 to take him 6-under – eight shots off the summit - Rory Mcilroy was floored by another fruitless day on the Glashedy greens. If Mcilroy, who starts today’s final round on one-under, was frustrated, the fiery Rahm almost blew a gasket after failing to capitalise on a stunning front nine. The muscular World No5’s bag bore the brunt on the 17th green, before his attention turned to an official sign as he strode towards the recording hut. Berating his luckless run-in – his putt at the last squirmed out of the hole – the Bilbao bruiser gestured to throw a hook at the blue board before pulling his punch. Rahm, who mauled Portstewart to win his first ever European Tour title last year, said: “I played as flawless a front nine as I could, but it’s frustrating because I felt like I could have gone lower. “Five under for the front nine is extremely good. I gave myself chances but wasn’t able to make the good,” he said. “I would take that straight to The Open and be happy where that is. It’s a matter of being more efficient with my scoring.” It was an underwhelming day for the remaining Irish players, with Shane Lowry and Simon Thornton both shooting two-over rounds of 74 to leave them level par. Three bogeys – including a dropped shot at the last cost Graeme Mcdowell who ended the day one-over after carding his second 73 of the week. Last week, Mcdowell had predicted a really low score in excess of 20-under for the tournament, but the 2010 US Open champion has been forced into a climbdown. “Scoring is tricky,” he said. “I’ve been here in the past and I don’t remember it being quite as tricky. The firmness of the course is making it very difficult to keep the ball in play off the tee.”