Chris Devlin carded a three under par third round of 68 at Hombre Golf Club in Panama City Beach in Florida to finish eight over par and move up the leader board to a share of 50th place at the USPGA Qualifying School Second Stage.
After an opening round of 82 the Ballymena professional has battled over the second and third rounds to sign for a 68 on Friday in a round that included an eagle two on the par four 9th and then a triple bogey on the 14th hole
Although Devlin remains off the pace - ahead of the final round - for one of the 19 places and ties his scoring on Friday undoubtedly will provide some momentum ahead of the final day.
Seong Ho Lee of South Korea continues to lead after a round of 68 to hold the pace at 10 under par.
At TPC Craig Ranch at McKinney in Texas Mark Murphy signed for a three under par round to finish one under overall in a share of 41st place – four shots off one of the top 20 places.
Although Murphy dropped a shot on the opening hole he went on to birdie the 5th and 7th to make the turn in one under par. A dropped shot on the 11th was offset by birdies on the 13th, 15th and 18th to give Murphy of 69.
