Australian Peter O&aposMalley has fired a seven-under-par round of 63 to move to within striking distance of the lead after three rounds of the European Open. O&aposMalley sits in equal third place at seven-under-par, three shots behind Denmark&aposs Soren Hansen, and one behind England&aposs Robert Rock. Hansen&aposs chances were given three massive boosts right at the end of the third round. First long-time leader Pelle Edberg had two double bogeys, then Colin Montgomerie bogeyed the last two holes and finally Niclas Fasth, fourth in the US Open and winner of the BMW International Open in Munich in his last start just two weeks ago, also bogeyed the 18th. As a result Fasth fell into a tie for fourth, Montgomerie into joint seventh with his one-over par 71 and Edberg to 14th. Rock, who has never finished higher than fourth in a Tour event, played the last eight holes in four-under to move into second place. Joint third with O&aposMalley are Fasth, France&aposs Gregory Havret and also another Swede, Peter Hanson, who produced the perfect end to his round when he holed in one with a six iron on the 18th. He very nearly did not have the chance to do that. But for some more overnight rain the hole was going to be switched back from a par three to the intended par five, but officials looked at the fairway again and decided it was still too saturated. Northern Ireland&aposs Graeme McDowell moved into contention alongside Montgomerie on six-under with a 65, but Dubliner Padraig Harrington could do no better than 69 and is eight behind, while US Open champion Angel Cabrera ran up a quadruple bogey eight on the fourth and with a 74 for four over is close to last in his first appearance since his Oakmont heroics. Australian Richard Green is seven shots from the lead in equal 26th place, compatriot Peter Fowler is a shot further adrift in a tie for 31st, while veteran Terry Price carded a third round of 69 to be nine shots from the lead in equal 41st position. Results from round three of the Smurfit Kappa European Open, Ireland : -10: Soren Hansen 69 68 63 -8: Robert Rock 65 71 66 -7: Niclas Fasth 65 68 70, Peter Hanson 68 69 66, Gregory Havret 65 70 68, Peter O&aposMalley (Australia) 72 68 63 -6: David Frost 68 66 70, Ignacio Garrido 69 69 66, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet 69 68 67, Peter Hedblom 68 68 68, Thomas Levet 70 67 67, Graeme McDowell 69 70 65, Colin Montgomerie 69 64 71 -5: Pelle Edberg 67 65 73, Phillip Archer 70 69 66, Ricardo Gonzalez 73 68 64, Simon Khan 67 67 71, Simon Wakefield 70 69 66, Steve Webster 70 70 65 also: -3: Richard Green (Australia) 69 67 71 -2: Peter Fowler (Australia) 70 71 67, Michael Campbell (New Zealand) 68 71 69 -1:Terry Price (Australia) 71 69 69
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