Rory McIlroy made progress on the third day of the Quinn Direct British Masters after signing for a  two under par 70 at the Belfry today.

The 18-year-old, playing in his first European Tour event as a professional, completed his first objective by making the cut and is now tied 41st on one-over heading into the final round.

He is joined by fellow ISM stablemate Paul McGinley who shot 72, while Damien McGrane (69) is best-placed of the trio of Irishmen who made the cut on level par. 
 
At the top of the leaderboard England's Mark Foster threw the tournament wide open by closing his  round of 69 with a double bogey six.

Four clear of the field on the tee, the 32-year-old from Nottinghamshire hit an awful second shot into the lake short of the green, then saw his pitch spin off the putting surface.

Foster did well to get down in two from there, but he had given the six players in joint second place a massive boost in the race for the £300,000 first prize.

A third round that began with a fog delay effectively ended with nobody having the foggiest who might take the title because the twice English amateur champion - that was over a decade ago and he has only won once on the European Tour since - knows he finished on a really deflating note.

He has never led going into the final 18 holes on the circuit.

"I didn't look at the leaderboards, but knew I was doing okay obviously," he said. "It was a shame about the last, but I'll reflect tonight and it was a good day overall."

Lee Westwood, also from Worksop, Ian Poulter, France's Gregory Bourdy and Swedish trio Niclas Fasth, Martin Erlandsson and Fredrik Andersson Hed are the sextet closest to him.

Colin Montgomerie would have been on the eight under par mark as well but for bogeys at the 16th and 18th and is four off the lead.