Ruaidhiri McGee is just five shots off the lead entering the final round of the Turkish Airlines Challenge in Antalya with Niall Kearney a shot further back. 

The Rosapenna man had two birdies and two bogeys in a level par 72 at the National Antalya course to share 17th place on two over par with Kearney tied 20th on three over after a 74.

Frenchman Jerome Lando Casanova fired his third successive 71 to lead by one from England's Dave Coupland on three under par. Björn Akesson, Jeppe Huldahl, Niccolo Quintarelli and Wallace Booth are tied third on one under.

Kearney was one under after eight holes but had five bogeys and two bogeys in the last 10 holes to find himself six behind the leader.

As for McGee, he needs a hot day with the putter to open his Challenge Tour account after two missed cuts in his first two starts as a rookie on the second tier circuit.

Casanova followed a one over par front nine with a bogey at the 12th, he turned things around when he fired his second shot to three feet for a birdie at the 13th before picking up another shot at the difficult 14th.

A final birdie at the par four 17th moved the 28 year old to three under par for the week and, although he found the bunker with his approach at the picturesque final hole, a clinical up and down kept him clear of Coupland at the summit.

“The course is very tight and it was windier today than the other days,” said Lando Casanova. “It was difficult to get close to the hole so I'm very happy with my score.

“I had some silly mistakes but I played really well at the end so I'm happy with my concentration. My game was the same as the previous days so I will try tomorrow to do that, but just make less mistakes.

“It’s always exciting to be leading a tournament. That is what we train for and we play every tournament hoping to be the leader so it will be exciting.

“I need to stay really focussed on my strategy because you can’t relax on any holes here. You have to be focussed on every hole.

“It would be great to win. There are a lot of good players on the Challenge Tour so when you win a tournament like this, it means that you are a very good player.”

It will also be a first taste of the pressure of the final group for former England international amateur and Challenge Tour rookie Coupland, who carded a third round 73 to finish the day in outright second place on two under par.

Sweden’s Björn Åkesson, Jeppe Huldahl of Denmark, Italian Niccolo Quintarelli and Scot Wallace Booth were all a shot further back on one under par, while two-time European Tour winner Michael Jonzon and third round leader Oliver Farr were among the players three off the pace on level par.

Scores:

213 J Lando Casanova  (Fra) 71 71 71, 

214 D Coupland (Eng) 71 70 73,

215 J Huldahl (Den) 76 68 71, N Quintarelli (Ita) 72 70 73, W Booth  (Sco) 71 72 72, B Åkesson (Swe) 71 71 73,

216 N Ravano (Ita) 75 68 73, M Jonzon (Swe) 69 73 74, R McEvoy  (Eng) 72 72 72, O Farr (Wal) 72 67 77, C Paisley  (Eng) 69 73 74,

217 M Lampert (Ger) 74 72 71, J Harrison (Eng) 71 71 75, C Hanson (Eng) 74 71 72, M Rominger  (Sui) 76 70 71, B An (Kor) 70 72 75,

218 M Orrin (Eng) 72 74 72, B Hebert  (Fra) 73 71 74, R McGee (Irl) 73 73 72,

219 S Arnold  (Aus) 70 71 78, N Kearney (Irl) 72 73 74, A Johnston (Eng) 70 73 76, J Sjöholm (Swe) 75 74 70, G Cambis  (Fra) 68 72 79, B Ritthammer (Ger) 78 66 75,

220 R Coles (Eng) 70 75 75, O Stark (Swe) 71 76 73, A Snobeck  (Fra) 75 74 71, N Lemke (Swe) 74 71 75, C Bouniol (Fra) 77 71 72, M Delpodio  (Ita) 71 75 74, F Bergamaschi (Ita) 73 76 71,

221 W Besseling  (Ned) 74 75 72, E Espana (Fra) 72 71 78, S Tiley (Eng) 75 71 75, G Woolgar (Eng) 73 73 75, G Lockerbie  (Eng) 73 71 77, T Sluiter  (Ned) 78 71 72, R Steiner (Aut) 73 73 75,

222 S Little (Eng) 73 76 73, P Edberg (Swe) 72 74 76, N Kimsey (Eng) 72 75 75, T Linard (Fra) 74 74 74, J Barnes (Eng) 73 75 74, L Corfield  (Eng) 73 71 78, J Lagergren (Swe) 71 74 77,

223 P Figueiredo  (Por) 71 74 78, A Björk (Swe) 74 73 76, J Makitalo  (Fin) 73 72 78, J Fahrbring (Swe) 73 70 80, A Bernadet  (Fra) 73 75 75, A Marshall (Eng) 74 71 78, L Goddard  (Eng) 76 73 74,

224 P Widegren  (Swe) 74 74 76, M Ford (Eng) 69 76 79, M Wiegele  (Aut) 71 78 75, G Shaw (Nir) 77 70 77, A Tadini (Ita) 73 73 78,

225 L Nemecz (Aut) 73 75 77, C Mivis  (Bel) 74 75 76, B Chapellan (Fra) 72 75 78, L Jensen (Den) 74 75 76,

226 K Samooja (Fin) 74 75 77