Meath star nears his Valderrama

BRIAN CREIGHTON

DAMIEN McGRANE kept alive his hopes of earning a place in this week's Volvo Masters at Valderrama with a steady but unspectacular two-under-par 68 in the third round of the Majorca Classic yesterday.

But any lingering chance Gary Murphy might have had of playing at Valderrama vanished in the first 10 holes for which he was eight over par, capped by a triple bogey eight at the 10th.

Murphy's 78 saw him slip back to joint 73rd position, an astonishing drop for the Kilkennyman who shared second place after a first-day 66.

Jose Maria Olazabal birdied the 17th hole to finish with a level-par round of 70, which was good enough to take the lead from Paul Broadhurst.

The English player lost out when he bogeyed the last, missing from five feet, for a round of 72. Soren Hansen of Denmark shares second place.

After rounds of 72 and 71, McGrane needed an improvement to solidify his bid for Valderrama and he made the fine start he needed with three successive birdies from the third before securing pars on the last 13 holes.

"I played nice and steady out there today. I hit a lot of good shots but missed a lot of birdie putts. I'm happy enough," the Meathman he said. "I got a bit of luck as well out there. You know, swings and roundabouts. It all balances itself out."

He struck a nine iron to four feet at the third for his first birdie. Then he hit a wedge to 15 feet and holed at the fourth, followed by a lob wedge to six feet on five. "Then I missed a few and made pars all the way home from there. There were loads of great chances. I wouldn't say they were putts I should have made. The greens are difficult to read," he said.

McGrane explained that he had not done any serious arithmetic calculations about what he needs in today's final round.

"I'm here to play golf. If I perform well over the weekend, I should get there. But Valderrama's next week, not this week. There's no point in a lot of arithmetic," he said.

Murphy's perilous situation after his fine opening round should not come as a great surprise. He said earlier in the week that he has struggled ever since his joint-sixth place in the Smurfit European Open at The K Club early in July as the changes he is making to his swing take time to bed in.

Errant tee shots destroyed his round yesterday. He hit into the trees at the third and made bogey, and then found water at the fifth on the way to another bogey. He lost his tee shot on seven for a double bogey and drove into trees at the eighth for bogey.

His drive at the 10th again finished out of bounds and he had to play a provisional ball, with which he took his eight. "It was a pretty good eight, really," he quipped.

STEPHEN BROWNE'S bid to win a full-time place on the European Tour next year has been delayed for a day due to flooding in the Brindisi area of south-east Italy, writes Bernie McGuire. Thunderstorms resulted in the postponement of the fourth and final round of the Challenge Tour Grand Final at the San Domenico course.

Browne is in seventh place, five shots off the lead, after Friday's third round. He needs to finish in the top five to be assured of ending the season among the top 20 on the money list and secure his card for the main European Tour.