Ireland’s Gary Murphy had one eye on the upper reaches of the Order of Merit rather than the bottom in the third round of the Mallorca Classic.

Jose Maria Olazabal, chasing his first win for three years, leads England’s Paul Broadhurst and Dane Soren Hansen by one with a round to go in the Mallorca Classic.

Austrian Markus Brier and Swede Peter Hedblom made early moves through the field in the third round of the Mallorca Classic.

England’s Paul Broadhurst grabbed the halfway lead in the £1m (€1.46m) Mallorca Classic at Pula today – but the European tour career of another former Ryder Cup star was left hanging by a thread.

Six years after appearing in the Ryder Cup Sweden’s Jarmo Sandelin almost certainly lost his place on the European tour today.

England’s Jonathan Lomas, with only one European Tour victory in more than 350 starts, continued to battle for the lead in the Mallorca Classic – along with a player for whom it meant far more.

One week after his joint best performance of the year Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam was forced to pull out of the Mallorca Classic first round at Pula today.

Ireland's Gary Murphy is tied in third place at the Mallorca Classic, at -3 after 15 holes.

Scotland’s David Drysdale suffered an early setback today in his last-ditch bid to stay on the European tour.