Sunday 9 July 2017 19:21, UK
Jon Rahm powered into a share of the lead after the third round of the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open as Daniel Im battled hard to stay tied at the top.
Rahm fired a second consecutive 67 in glorious conditions with Portstewart bathed in sunshine for Moving Day, while Im scrambled crucial pars at each of the final two holes to return a 68 and remain level with the Spaniard on 18 under par.
Justin Rose gave himself an outside chance of victory as a flawless 66 lifted him to within four shots of the leaders, but the in-form Tommy Fleetwood will need something ultra-special on the final day after he failed to build on an excellent front nine.
Rahm will be favourite to emulate his illustrious compatriots Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal in winning the Irish Open title, and the rising star of European golf continued to defy his lack of experience on links courses.
The big-hitting 22-year-old, who turned professional less than a year ago, opened with a birdie for the third day running and he picked up a further shot at the seventh before making his only mistake of the round at the next.
But Rahm's putter caught fire after the turn as he reeled off four straight birdies from the 11th, and he did well to save par at the last after blocking his drive into the gallery.
The world No 11 looked likely to end the day as the outright leader when Im's game began to falter down the stretch, but the American, who made three birdies in four holes in the outward half, kept his composure on the greens and rolled in two superb par-saving putts from 15 feet to ensure a share of the lead for the third round in a row.
Overnight joint-leader Benjamin Hebert is in outright third as he staged an impressive recovery from a double-bogey six at the ninth, the Frenchman making birdies at 10, 13 and 14 before parring in to card a 69 which kept him just a single stroke behind Rahm and Im.
Japanese challenger Hideto Tanihara slipped to 15 under as he took a little gloss off a seven-birdie 66 with a lone blemish at the 17th, while Hebert's fellow Frenchman Julien Quesne followed an outward 33 with six birdies and one bogey on the back nine to return a 64 and jump to 14 under par.
Rose is a further shot adrift as he continued his smooth progress over the week, cruising to the turn with four birdies and adding two more at both the par-fives on the back nine to record his best round of the tournament, and the Englishman has dropped only two shots in 54 holes.
The world No 13 shares sixth on 13 under with Ryan Fox, Oliver Fisher and Scott Hend, while Matthew Southgate made his first bogeys of the week and lost ground on the leaders with a 71.
Fleetwood, playing alongside Rose, made significant early strides up the leaderboard when he followed three birdies in four holes with an eagle at the seventh, but last week's Open de France winner sandwiched further birdies at 11 and 14 with a pair of bogeys, and he also erred at the last to slip to 11 under.
Shot of the day went to Swedish veteran Peter Hanson, who made a superb hole-in-one at the third and went on to fire a 66 which hoisted him into the group on 11 under which also included Scottish duo Richie Ramsay and Scott Jamieson.
