O’Hara and Doak in the frame for Tour spots

STEVEN O’Hara and Chris Doak both made positive third-round moves as the European Tour Qualifying School reached the halfway stage in Girona.

Both playing on the shorter Tour Course at PGA Catalunya, O’Hara posted a five-under 65, one less than Doak, as they each moved to six-under for the tournament and tied for 25th.

O’Hara, facing the six-round examination for the fifth time in his career after finishing 131st in the Race to Dubai, signed for seven birdies, including four in a row from the third.

Doak, who missed out by a single shot a year ago, stepped up his latest bid to secure one of the coveted 30 cards up for grabs with a flawless four-birdie effort.

However, the remaining seven Scots in the field all have work to do, with some of them facing an uphill fight just to survive today’s cut that will reduce the hopefuls to the leading 70 and ties.

Two-time European Tour winner Gary Orr is tied for 39th on six-under following a 69, but Alastair Forsyth is the only other Scot in the safe zone on two-under after a third successive 70.

Callum Macaulay also signed for a 70 to sit in 74th place on one-under, but Lloyd Saltman (71) is 92nd on one-over, with his brother Elliot (74), Alan McLean (71) and Scott Drummond (76) all two shots worse in 104th.

Englishman Sam Hutsby is still setting the pace, though his lead is down to one after the 2009 Walker Cup player shot a 68 on the Tour Course to move to 15-under.

Leading the chase after a 67 is his compatriot Andy Sullivan, who won the Scottish Stroke-Play Championship at Blairgowrie earlier this year before helping Great Britain & Ireland lift the Walker Cup at Royal Aberdeen. “I’ve put myself in a good position now, so I’m definitely thinking about winning it,” said Sullivan.

“It would mean a lot to me and would probably the biggest achievement of my life, so I just have to go out there and keep doing what I’m doing.”

One Englishman struggling to survive the four-round cut is Nick Dougherty after his nightmare season showed no signs of a happy ending. A 75 left him on four-over par and outside the top 100.

“I played really well on the front nine and then I had a tough break,” said the 2007 Dunhill Links champion.

“I’ve got a little bit of an ailment at the moment with my hip, where it clicks and goes, and when it does I’m lucky if I make contact with the ball.

“It happened on the first tee, which was my tenth hole, and I made a bogey then never really made a shot after that.”

American Scott Pinckney, who finished second behind his close friend, James Byrne, in the 2009 East of Scotland Open at Lundin, is lying in a tie for 60th on three-under.