England’s Callum Shinkwin will take a share of the lead into the final round of the Oman Open as he goes in search of a first professional victory in Muscat.
The former Walker Cup star had held the lead on his own but a bogey on the last in his third-round 66 dropped him back to 11 under and into a six-way tie alongside 2018 champion Joost Luiten, Finnish pair Mikko Korhonen and Sami Valimaki, South African Brandon Stone and Danish teenager Rasmus Hojgaard.
Cormac Sharvin was the lone Irish player to make the 36-hole cut and he sits in a tie for 44th heading into the final day after a third round 72 left him at two under par.
Shinkwin came close to a professional breakthrough at the 2017 Scottish Open but it was again a bogey on the last that dropped him into a play-off with eventual winner Rafa Cabrera Bello.
After a birdie on the par-five third at Al Mouj Golf, he made hat-tricks of gains from the sixth and 12th before a poor second on the last — where he also took six on Friday — led to his only bogey of the day.
“I played great,” he told europeantour.com. “I had a couple of good spells on the front nine and the back nine, holed a few putts, so overall my whole game has been very good. I just have to sort that last hole out and I should be doing quite well.
“My distance control has been very good and my putts haven’t been dropping but my new caddie has been very helpful with the green reading so overall the game has been there, so it is just a matter of time.
“I will just do all the same things. It is more about how I am on the golf course as opposed to trying too hard. It is quite easy to go out there and force the situation, so just let it happen and hope for the best.”
Dutchman Luiten won the inaugural staging of this event and he carded a bogey-free 67, while playing partner Stone was also blemish-free in posting the same score.
Hojgaard was the third member of that group and he was two over for the day after bogeying the sixth and making a double on the second, but the 18-year-old fought back with five birdies in a 70.
Rookie Valimaki made eight birdies in a 64 that was the lowest round of the week so far, while countryman Korhonen was bogey-free in his 65.
Italy’s Guido Migliozzi was a shot off the lead after a 68, one clear of England’s Jordan Smith and three ahead of another Englishman in Robert Rock and Scot Stephen Gallacher, who came home in 40 to fall down the leaderboard.
Collated third round scores in the European Tour the Oman Open, Alb Mouj Golf, Oman (British unless stated, par 72):
205 Joost Luiten (Ned) 69 69 67, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 67 71 67, Callum Shinkwin 69 70 66, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 73 67 65, Sami Valimaki (Fin) 74 67 64, Rasmus Hojgaard (Den) 67 68 70
206 Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 66 72 68
207 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 72 68 67, Clement Sordet (Fra) 70 71 66, Jordan Smith 70 70 67
208 Kalle Samooja (Fin) 71 65 72
209 Robert Rock 73 65 71, Stephen Gallacher 68 67 74, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 67 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 73 69 67
210 Haotong Li (Chn) 73 69 68, Jeff Winther (Den) 69 72 69, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 69 70 71, Justin Walters (Rsa) 69 74 67, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 68 74 68
211 Robin Roussel (Fra) 75 69 67, Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 71 68 72, Paul Waring 70 73 68, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 70 69 72, Antoine Rozner (Fra) 71 70 70, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 69 72 70
212 Richard Bland 72 71 69, Richard McEvoy 70 68 74, Grant Forrest 70 73 69, Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 68 75 69, Tae Hee Lee (Kor) 67 75 70, Darius Van Driel (Ned) 71 69 72, Connor Syme 73 70 69, Aaron Cockerill (Can) 69 73 70, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 69 70 73
213 Ross Fisher 68 75 70, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 72 71 70, George Coetzee (Rsa) 68 73 72, Chris Paisley 73 69 71, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 72 70 71, Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 72 70 71, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 71 72 70, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 71 72 70
214 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 71 70 73, Cormac Sharvin (NIrl) 75 67 72, Steven Brown 69 74 71, Scott Hend (Aus) 70 72 72, Sean Crocker (USA) 72 71 71, Thomas Detry (Bel) 71 72 71, Gavin Green (Mal) 71 70 73, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 70 72 72
215 Marcus Armitage 72 72 71, S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 68 75 72, Matthew Jordan 77 67 71, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 73 71 71, Lars Van Meijel (Ned) 72 72 71, Ben Stow 73 69 73, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 72 71 72, Jamie Donaldson 71 73 71, Calum Hill 73 68 74, Johannes Veerman (USA) 72 70 73, Nicolai Hojgaard (Den) 73 71 71, Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 75 71
216 Benjamin Poke (Den) 71 73 72, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 74 69 73, Robin Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 70 73 73, James Morrison 74 70 72
217 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 73 71 73, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 72 72 73, Jack Singh Brar 71 73 73, Zander Lombard (Rsa) 68 73 76, Ashley Chesters 73 70 74, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 70 74
The following players missed the second cut
218 Bryce Easton (Rsa) 72 71 75, Lee Slattery 73 71 74, Renato Paratore (Ita) 71 73 74
219 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 74 75, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 71 73 75, Andrew Sullivan 68 76 75
