Ireland's quintet of survivors are all but making up the numbers in the KLM Open at Kennemer Golf and Country Club in The Netherlands.

Shane Lowry was easily the best of the bunch in round three, firing six birdies in a three under 67 but he still ended the day 10 shots off the pace, tied for 22nd on four under par.

Frenchman Romain Wattel, 23, posted a six under par 64 to lead by three on 14 under par in his bid of his maiden European Tour title with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay his nearest challenger.

Ramsay nearly aced the par three 11th hole for a second consecutive day, stopping his tee shot four feet from the pin, and there was also plenty of drama provided by Englishman Paul Casey, who need to hole his second shot on his final hole – the ninth - for the first round of 59 on the European Tour.

The former Ryder Cup player’s approach landed an inch from the cup, but then spun off the green and he could only make bogey, signing for a round of 62 and a ten under par total, leaving him four shots back in third place.

Defending champion, and home favourite, Joost Luiten made an impressive fightback from a quadruple-bogey nine on the second hole, carding eight birdies and one bogey in a round of 67. 

He is six shots adrift in a share of sixth position with Frenchman Gary Stal and Englishman Simon Dyson, the three-time KLM Open champion.

But it was a day to forget for the rest of the Irish in action in Zandvoort with Pádraig Harrington again taking 31 putts in a level par 70.

The 43-year old Dubliner fell 13 spots to tied 45th on two under as he went out in over with bogeys at the third and ninth and a solitary birdie at the par-five seventh.

Another bogey at the 10th left Harrington two over for the day but he recovered immediately with birdies at the par-three 11th and par-five 12th before parring home.

Darren Clarke also shot 70, carding four birdies and four bogyes in a 33 putt round despite hitting 15 greens in regulation.

The former Open champion had 35 putts on Thursday and his lack of success on the greens has meant he's scrambled for par just twice from 11 attempts.

Simon Thornton, the leading Irish player at halfway, got off to an awful start with bogeys at the third, fourth and sixth and a double bogey seven at the 12th leaving him five over with six to play.

He did manage to birdie the 13th but bogeyed the 17th after a poor day with his irons and a 75 left him tied for 68th with Damien McGrane (73) on two over.

As for Wattel, he's simply determined to keep improving and wait for his chance to win.

“I know that if I play good enough I will win one day," he said. "Maybe that will be tomorrow, maybe it will be in two years. The most important thing for me is to play some good golf. 

"I’m not in the top 100 in the world so I can’t play the majors or the WGCs. So I’m just trying to improve my game week after week.

"I’m feeling confident, but even if I don’t win tomorrow it will have been a good week for me and I will try to keep doing the same, and maybe it will be next week, or the one after.

“The good thing for me this week has been the start. Normally I’ve not started the tournament well, certainly this year.

"I was in a good position after two rounds. This hasn’t happened very often to me. It is the first time I’ve led after three days, so it’s great. It won’t be easy tomorrow.”

Complete third round scores from the KLM Open (par 70)

196 R Wattel  (Fra) 67 65 64,

199 R Ramsay  (Sco) 69 65 65,

200 P Casey  (Eng) 68 70 62,

201 P Uihlein  (USA) 66 68 67, A Sullivan (Eng) 67 68 66,

202 G Stal  (Fra) 66 71 65, J Luiten (Ned) 65 70 67, S Dyson  (Eng) 70 66 66,

203 A Pavan (Ita) 66 70 67, M Kieffer (Ger) 67 68 68, E Pepperell (Eng) 69 68 66, T Pieters  (Bel) 70 66 67, E Molinari  (Ita) 66 66 71,

205 P Waring  (Eng) 69 71 65, B Koepka  (USA) 69 66 70, M Ilonen  (Fin) 69 66 70, E Grillo (Arg) 72 66 67, J Hansen  (Den) 72 66 67, P Larrazábal (Esp) 68 62 75, R Rock (Eng) 73 67 65, J Morrison  (Eng) 73 67 65,

206 N Colsaerts  (Bel) 72 68 66, T Aiken (RSA) 67 68 71, J Kruger (RSA) 73 63 70, W Ormsby (Aus) 70 69 67, R Karlsson (Swe) 69 69 68, C Lee (Sco) 69 69 68, M Jiménez (Esp) 71 69 66, R Derksen (Ned) 71 67 68, S Lowry  (Irl) 70 69 67, G Fdez-Castaño  (Esp) 71 69 66, C Wood  (Eng) 69 67 70, O Fisher  (Eng) 70 66 70,

207 R Bland (Eng) 70 70 67, T Hatton (Eng) 68 67 72, M Korhonen (Fin) 71 69 67, R Jacquelin (Fra) 71 68 68, M Warren (Sco) 68 68 71, J Heath  (Eng) 69 67 71, J Hahn (USA) 71 66 70, N Elvira  (Esp) 71 67 69, C Doak (Sco) 69 70 68, D Im (USA) 67 70 70, J Carlsson (Swe) 70 67 70,

208 P Harrington (Irl) 70 68 70, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 70 67 71, J Doherty  (Sco) 69 71 68, R Saxton (Ned) 71 67 70, A Gee  (Eng) 69 70 69,

209 J Parry (Eng) 71 69 69, M Carlsson  (Swe) 68 71 70, T Lewis (Eng) 70 69 70, R Kakko  (Fin) 69 69 71, T Olesen (Den) 69 71 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 73 67 69, S Hansen (Den) 68 66 75,

210 M Crespi  (Ita) 71 69 70, D Clarke (Nir) 73 67 70, D Howell (Eng) 68 69 73, J Quesne  (Fra) 70 69 71, N Fasth (Swe) 70 70 70, M Foster (Eng) 70 67 73, J Krietemeijer (am) (Ned) 71 69 70,

211 A Kaleka  (Fra) 72 67 72, J Lima  (Por) 70 67 74, S Kjeldsen (Den) 70 70 71, W Besseling  (Ned) 68 72 71,

212 D McGrane (Irl) 71 68 73, B An (Kor) 72 68 72, I Van Weerelt (Ned) 69 70 73, J Singh (Ind) 72 68 72, S Thornton (Irl) 68 69 75,

213 J McLeary  (Sco) 67 72 74,

214 G Bhullar (Ind) 70 69 75,

216 D Huizing (Ned) 72 68 76, E Goya (Arg) 67 73 76.