Kevin Phelan might have taken 26 hours to get to the course but he now has a chance making the long trip worthwhile by clinching his first tour win in Morocco.

The 24-year old Mount Juliet touring professional  bogeyed the 18th for the second day running but he's still delighted with his position, just a shot behind a trio of co-leaders in Richie Ramsay, Andrew McArthur and Romain Wattel on six under par after a two under 70.

The former Walker Cup star was three under for the day and bogey free before that dropped shot at the last took a little of the gloss off a polished, professional performance.

"I've played nicely all three rounds," said Phelan, who has been excellent from tee to green all week. "Steady always works. It's a great course and quite severe in places so you have to be spot on with your distance control and pretty disciplined with your targets into some of the pins.

"I am usually pretty good at picking targets. I like aiming at pins but there are times when you have to aim away. It just has to be done."

The Waterford man missed just two greens in regulation and had his putter been a little warmer — he had 32 putts — he might have taken the lead at Golf du Palais Royal. 

But after taking an extra day to reach the venue from Madeira having been diverted through London following the cancellation of his Monday morning flight, the effort might prove well worth the wait.

He lost his full tour card last year and knows he has to take advantage of every start. And at 67th in the Race to Dubai thanks mainly to that runner up finish in the Joburg Open nearly four weeks ago.

"I've played nicely the last while so I will just try to take advantage of my good play," Phelan said. "I am not sure how many starts I will get this year so I am trying to take advantage when I get them."

It promises to be a fascinating finish with three tied for the lead and Phelan one of seven players just one shot back.

McArthur and Wattel both posted five under par rounds of 67 to set the clubhouse target of seven under par 209 which was then matched by Ramsay, who dropped a shot on the final hole  after finding the thick rough off the tee. 

The two-time European Tour champion, joint leader at the halfway stage, hit a tree with his second shot, and after a fine eight iron third shot, he just missed the hole with a 20ft par putt to make it a three-way tie at the top of the leaderboard.

Both McArthur and Wattel will be hoping to land a maiden European Tour title at Golf du Palais Royal, with Wattel moving into contention after picking up five shots in the closing six holes of his round, including an eagle three on the 17th.

South African George Coetzee, who needs a victory to secure an invite to next month’s Masters Tournament, is one shot back on six under par following a battling round of 71. 

He is tied with six other players, including Phelan, compatriot Jaco Van Zyl, 2011 champion David Horsey, Richard Bland, Soren Kjeldsen and Emiliano Grillo.

Like Phelan, McArthur badly needs a win to ease his worries about his future.

“It would be massive if I could win," said the Scot, who has made 10 trips to Q-School but won twice on the Challenge Tour. 

"I've been playing Challenge Tour for one too many years. I don’t want to get ahead of myself. I need to get through those first four or five holes. They are brutal. 

"I got really lucky on the second today. I duffed my chip and managed to walk off with bogey. I could still be there chipping. The leaderboard is packed so I just need to get on with it and see what happens."

Michael Hoey had a disappointing day, making four birdies, four bogeys and two double bogeys in a four over 76 that dropped him 31 places to tied 64th on three over.

Complete third round scores from the Trophee Hassan II (par 72)

209 A McArthur  (Sco) 71 71 67, R Ramsay  (Sco) 72 66 71, R Wattel  (Fra) 68 74 67,

210 D Horsey (Eng) 70 71 69, E Grillo (Arg) 74 69 67, G Coetzee (RSA) 67 72 71, K Phelan (Irl) 70 70 70, R Bland (Eng) 69 70 71, S Kjeldsen (Den) 68 73 69, J Van Zyl (RSA) 69 71 70,

211 W Ormsby (Aus) 71 72 68, M Lundberg (Swe) 70 75 66,

212 B Ritthammer (Ger) 71 70 71, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 69 69 74, O Farr (Wal) 70 68 74, S Kapur (Ind) 72 73 67, A Wall (Eng) 68 72 72, P Larrazábal (Esp) 70 69 73, M Orrin (Eng) 70 70 72,

213 P Edberg (Swe) 71 71 71, A Saddier (Fra) 65 77 71, S Benson (Eng) 73 68 72, C Wood  (Eng) 67 72 74, M Korhonen (Fin) 68 74 71, M Carlsson  (Swe) 73 70 70, A Marshall (Eng) 71 73 69, C Paisley  (Eng) 71 70 72, J Campillo (Esp) 71 69 73, B Evans  (Eng) 69 70 74,

214 R Karlsson (Swe) 72 74 68, B An (Kor) 72 71 71, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 70 71 73, S Jamieson  (Sco) 74 69 71, M Schneider (Ger) 73 69 72, R Green (Aus) 68 70 76, E Pepperell (Eng) 71 74 69, E De La Riva  (Esp) 68 75 71, G Bourdy (Fra) 75 71 68, O Wilson (Eng) 68 73 73, M Kieffer (Ger) 73 73 68, R Santos  (Por) 69 72 73,

215 J Lagergren (Swe) 72 68 75, B Hebert  (Fra) 75 71 69, J Walters (RSA) 71 73 71, P Widegren  (Swe) 73 73 69, M Manassero (Ita) 72 71 72, P Oriol (Esp) 71 75 69, J Olazábal (Esp) 69 76 70,

216 M Lorenzo-Vera  (Fra) 74 72 70, M Foster (Eng) 73 72 71, D Drysdale (Sco) 67 73 76, R Jacquelin (Fra) 70 76 70, M Lampert (Ger) 68 75 73, P Waring  (Eng) 70 74 72,

217 T Lewis (Eng) 69 77 71, K Broberg (Swe) 73 70 74, J Quesne  (Fra) 70 75 72, D Howell (Eng) 70 70 77, J Morrison  (Eng) 72 73 72,

218 N Fasth (Swe) 71 73 74, F Fritsch  (Ger) 70 72 76, N Elvira  (Esp) 73 72 73, R Rock (Eng) 74 72 72,

219 M Hoey  (Nir) 70 73 76, E Espana (Fra) 73 70 76,

220 C Lloyd (Eng) 76 69 75, M Matsumura (Jpn) 72 74 74, A Johnston (Eng) 72 71 77,

221 O Fisher  (Eng) 74 71 76,

222 L Slattery (Eng) 77 69 76,

223 R Finch  (Eng) 75 71 77,

228 S Hend (Aus) 71 73 84.