Mother nature takes her toll at Luttrellstown Castle

The marriage of a malevolent Mother Nature and unforgiving golf course proved to be one of considerable inconvenience for players in the penultimate round of the Titleist and Footjoy PGA Professional Championship.

Especially those harbouring realistic hopes of being crowned the golfing king of Luttrellstown Castle and claiming the £10,000 first prize.

Gusts of wind that resulted in a lengthy course playing longer in some cases and shorter in others made, as Chris McDonnell testified, an already challenging task more difficult. By way of compounding the difficulty, squalls of rain dampened the course located on the cusp of Dublin.

“The front nine wasn’t too bad but the wind made life very difficult on the back nine,” said McDonnell, who shares pole position with Scottish duo, Paul O’Hara and Christopher Currie.

 “I had bogeys on three of the par fives – holes you’d expect to have a chance of making birdies on.”

All of which explained why McDonnell who began the third round on six-under-par ended it on one-under after a round of five-over.

ABOVE - Chris Gane struggled to cope with the windy conditions.

It could, though, have been worse. Just ask Brendan McGovern, the overnight leader, or Chris Gane.

The former’s healthy seven-under was subjected to a nine-shot swing and morphed into a sickly looking two-over. Meanwhile, Gane, three-under at the start of play, suffered similarly and is now six-over.

However, McDonnell, perhaps mindful he escaped lightly, remained philosophical.

“It was tough out there today but I can’t be too unhappy with being under par for the tournament and having a share of the lead,” added the pro from Golf of Goodwood who has some unfinished business to take care of.

Having won this tournament in 2014, he missed out on selection for the PGA Cup the following year so is keen to make amends for the omission.

“I had a bad year after winning this tournament in 2014 so the PGA Cup is unfinished business as far as I’m concerned," he explained.

Victory this year should guarantee him a place in Albert MacKenzie’s side to take on the Americans at Foxhills in September.

But given the points system in operation to determine which six players from this and last year’s event will book their places in the 10-man line-up, an almighty scramble to qualify for the team looks likely in round four.

Defending champion David Higgins and Andrew Raitt, who finished runner up last year, lie tied ninth and tied fifth respectively and are both in the mix.

As are O’Hara and Currie, the only other two players under-par.

In posting a score of two-over for the day, Currie managed to defy the worst of the conditions: having completed the front nine in two-over he negotiated the homeward stretch in par.

By contrast, O’Hara, in common with McDonnell, found the inward half testing.

“The back nine was just so tough,” said O’Hara, who began the round on four-under.

“Two or three over is a decent score and I’ve just got to have the mentality that it isn’t that bad, so I’m fairly pleased with my position.

“I understand tomorrow’s not going to be as windy so I just need to try and play the same as I have the last couple of days, hit fairways and greens and try and hole a few putts.”