McDowell fighting losing battle to retain card
GRAEME McDOWELL needs a miracle to retain his US PGA Tour card after a level-par third round of 70 in the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina.
Only the top 125 players at the end of today’s final round will retain their card and go on to the FedEx Cup and the Portrush man is on course to finish outside the top 140.
There is a second chance, with 25 cards up for grabs in a four-event tournament, where players on the main tour and the secondary Web. com Tour compete, but it has been a disappointing season for many of the Irish players.
Seamus Power, who missed the cut at the Wyndham is still sweating on whether he will finish in the top 125 and it may go down to the wire.
Shane Lowry will have to go through the qualifiers after he missed the cut by a shot on Friday night and he, too, is set to be around 140 on the standings.
McDowell will need something like the 59 that Brandt Snedeker shot in round one to get in with a chance of the top-five finish he needs to save his card. He birdied his first yesterday but gave that shot back at the second and then had 16 pars.
Meanwhile, Paul Waring and Thomas Aiken share the lead heading into the final round of the Nordea Masters but Ryder Cup hopeful Thorbjorn Olesen is hot on their heels in Gothenburg.
Englishman Waring entered a windy day three at Hills Golf Club in a share of the lead and that was where he ended it after a round of 69, with South African Aiken joining him on 12 under after a 67.
Dane Olesen was then three shots back alongside Scotsman Marc Warren - who won the first of his three European Tour titles at this event in 2006.
Olesen overcame a doublebogey on the seventh in a 67 as he looks to overhaul Ian Poulter in the final automatic qualifying place in European captain Thomas Bjorn’s team to face the United States at Le Golf National next month.