Ireland's Richard Coughlan fired a seven-under-par 65 to move up nine places after the third round of the USPGA Tour final qualifying school at La Quinta in California.

Coughlan after rounds of 66 69 and yesterday's 65 for total of 16-under-par 200 is tied for fourth place behind leader Andrew McLardy who fired a 63 for 21-under-par 195.

Starting at the 10th, Coughlan reached the turn in three-under-par 33, with birdies at the 12th, 13th, 15th and 17th while dropping a shot at the 14th, to be tied for the lead with overnight leader Tommy Tollas. Coughlan continued his excellent run with birdies at the first and second before moving to seven-under for the round with an eagle three at the par five fourth hole. Five pars to finish brought him home in 32 for a 65. Sean Quinlivan added a third round 75 for a three round total of 227.

Spain's Sergio Garcia fired a course-record seven-under-par 65 to grab the first-round lead in the Williams World Challenge (Benefiting the Tiger Woods Foundation) in Thousand Oaks, California.

Fiji's Vijay Singh was one shot back on 66 after a birdie at the par-four finishing hole. Davis Love was in third on 67 with Tiger Woods and Fred Couples tied on 68.

Robert Allenby fired his second course record in as many weeks to share the halfway lead in the Australian PGA Championship at Royal Queensland in Brisbane.

Allenby exploited near perfect conditions to post a course record eight under 64 before the afternoon players headed out into a stiffening easterly wind.

Steve Conran's 65, given the conditions which Greg Norman described as "very tough", was arguably the round of the tournament. Conran reeled in last week's Australian Open runner-up, with the pair five shots clear at 11 under.