All three Irish players competing in the final stage of European Tour Q-School in Spain made the cut on Tuesday but there is work to be done if they are to get inside the top-25 and ties who earn cards for next season.
Gavin Moynihan, Cormac Sharvin and Robin Dawson have at least secured Challenge Tour cards for next season by virtue of making the cut after four gruelling days and they now have two more rounds to get through if they are to get into the top-25 and ties.
Mount Juliet’s Moynihan – who claimed his European Tour card through Q-School at Lumine Golf Club last year before losing it in his first season – is the best of the bunch at 11 under and tied-29th after a fourth round 70, just one shot outside the current magic number.
The 24-year-old was three under for the day through his first 11 holes on the Lakes Course and would have been comfortably inside the number but bogeys on the 12th and 16th knocked him back.
For Sharvin the improvement of Monday continued on Tuesday as he fired a 68 – which included five birdies on his front nine before a solitary bogey on the way in – to add to his third round 66 and keep his hopes alive after he looked out of the running at one over after the first two rounds.
As it stands the Ardglass man is eight under par and tied-47th with two rounds to go, currently four shots outside the group who are in place to win their cards.
Dawson – who reached the final of the British Amateur Championship earlier this year – turned professional just two months ago but is now potentially just two good rounds away from earning a full European Tour card.
As it is, his securing of Challenge Tour status is an achievement in itself after he made the cut right on the mark and he can now cut loose for the final two round in Tarragona in the hope of improving his playing privileges further.
Two birdies in his final three holes completed a two under par round of 70 for the 22-year-old after three bogeys and three birdies earlier in his round.
England's Daniel Gavins leads the way at 20 under par with former European Tour winners Marcel Siem and Alejandro Canizares currently among those on the 12 under par bubble which, if play were to stop now, would be enough to earn cards.
Matteo Manassero, Richard Finch and Simon Dyson are among some of the former European Tour winners to miss the cut while 2008 Ryder Cup player and recent winner of the Monaghan Irish Challenge at Concra Wood, Oliver Wilson, is also going home after four rounds.
