Tournament ambassador Michael Hoey is just three shots behind leader Dylan Frittelli heading into the final round of the Tayto Northern Ireland Open in partnership with Ulster Bank.

As South African Frittellii shot a bogey-free 65 at Galgorm Castle Golf Club to lead by one from Wil Besseling of the Netherlands on 13 under par, Hoe’s 68 leaves him tied for fourth.

Frittelli, a former European Challenge Tour winner, had to complete his second round in the morning as a six-hour rain delay from Thursday’s first round carried through to Saturday.

Scores

The 26 year old carded a one under par 70 for his second round, but came out firing in the third round as he shot an eagle on the par four second hole.

Four more birdies followed and he overtook Wil Besseling at the top of the leaderboard with a total of 13 under par.

Holland’s Besseling led by one shot at the start of the third round and carded four birdies in his round of 68. He sits just one shot behind Frittelli.

Defending champion Clément Sordet shot a blemish-free 67 and takes sole ownership of third place on 11 under par.

“I’m very happy. My short game is great and I hit the ball really well,” said Sordet. “I hit 18 greens today, so I didn’t have to chip once. My game is solid and I’m looking forward to tomorrow.

Sam Hutsby, tournament host and local favourite Michael Hoey, and Ryan Fox, who will represent New Zealand in the Olympics next month, sit a shot further back on ten under par.

Damien McGrane (69) and Chris Selfridge (67) got to within five if the lead with Colm Moriarty (70) six back while amateur Colm Campbell showed that he has oodles of quality with a second successive 68 leaving him on four under

Scores after round three:

200 D Frittelli (RSA) 65 70 65, 

201 W Besseling (Ned) 68 65 68, 

202 C Sordet (Fra) 71 64 67, 

203 Michael Hoey (Nir) 68 67 68, S Hutsby (Eng) 65 71 67, R Fox (Nzl) 66 68 69, 

204 M Orrin (Eng) 70 66 68, B Ritthammer (Ger) 65 71 68, D Foos (Ger) 70 65 69, D Perrier (Fra) 68 68 68, A Saddier (Fra) 66 71 67, 

205 Damien McGrane (Irl) 65 71 69, Chris Selfridge (Nir) 71 67 67, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 72 66 67, T Lewis (Eng) 69 70 66, B Stow (Eng) 65 69 71, 

206 Colm Moriarty (Irl) 70 66 70, 

207 D Stewart (Sco) 72 69 66, M Kinhult (Swe) 67 73 67, B Hellgren (Swe) 67 68 72, J Loughrey (Eng) 68 68 71, R Kellett (Sco) 69 70 68, P Mejow (Ger) 68 69 70, D Gaunt (Aus) 65 72 70, M Nixon (Eng) 70 67 70, 

208 S Fernandez (Esp) 70 71 67, J Senior (Eng) 69 69 70, J Dantorp (Swe) 69 71 68, Rory McNamara (Irl) 65 76 67, J Lima (Por) 69 69 70, G King (Eng) 72 68 68, 

209 S Heisele (Ger) 71 69 69, J Stalter (Fra) 68 72 69, A Rai (Eng) 68 72 69, Jonny Caldwell (Nir) 70 71 68, D Van Driel (Ned) 68 73 68, Simon Thornton (Irl) 70 71 68, J Guerrier (Fra) 70 68 71, S Tiley (Eng) 69 70 70, M Tullo (Chi) 70 67 72, S Hodgson (Eng) 67 73 69, A Pavan (Ita) 74 66 69, Colm Campbell Jnr (am) (Irl) 73 68 68, 

210 T Tree (Eng) 71 67 72, A Knappe (Ger) 67 73 70, 

211 R Santos (Por) 67 73 71, J Lando Casanova (Fra) 70 71 70, S Henry (Sco) 68 70 73, H Joannes (Bel) 72 66 73, W Harrold (Eng) 67 72 72, P Maddy (Eng) 67 67 77, M Armitage (Eng) 68 72 71, M Keskari (Ger) 74 66 71, O Farr (Wal) 72 68 71, 

212 V Riu (Fra) 67 72 73, R Saxton (Ned) 66 72 74, Gary Hurley (Irl) 67 69 76, Kevin Phelan (Irl) 73 67 72, 

213 S Soderberg (Swe) 72 69 72, M Delpodio (Ita) 70 70 73, C Bouniol (Fra) 68 71 74, B Rusch (Sui) 72 69 72, 

214 T Pulkkanen (Fin) 70 71 73, R Roussel (Fra) 71 68 75, 

215 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 72 69 74, A Maestroni (Ita) 71 70 74, 

217 G Migliozzi (am) (Ita) 67 74 76, 

CUT

142 Joe Dillon (Irl) 74 68, Ruaidhri McGee (Irl) 73 69, Dermot McElroy (Nir) 70 72, 

143 Neil O’Briain (Irl) 73 70, Brian Casey (Irl) 73 70,

144 Gareth Shaw (Nir) 74 70, Gavin Moynihan (Irl) 73 71, Jack Hume (am) (Irl) 73 71

145 John Ross Galbraith (am) (Nir) 68 77

146 Reeve Whitson (Nir) 76 70, Noel Murray (Nir) 75 71

149 Michael McGeady (Irl) 80 69, Jamie Fletcher (am) (Nir) 78 71

150 Jeff Hopkins (Irl) 76 74, David Carey (Irl) 71 79

151 Niall Kearney (Irl) 73 78

156 David Rawluk (Irl) 80 76 0, Tom McKibbin (am) (Nir) 80 76

159 Alan Dunbar (Nir) 85 74

161 Richard Bridges (Irl) 81 80