Padraig Harrington was left to rue some missed chances as the Irish challenge faded on another day of low scoring at the Irish Open at Portstewart.
The Dubliner emerged as the top Irish player after the third round, but a one-under round of 71 left him on eight under par and well off the pace set by leaders Jon Rahm and Daniel Im, who ended the day locked together on 17 under..
Bogeys on the opening two holes did little to aid Harrington's cause, but the three-times major winner fought back to level par by the turn.
"I did struggle early on, that's for sure, and to be level par after nine was a magnificent level par," Harrington told RTÉ Sport.
"I was all over the place on the front nine but I had chances all the way home..." - Padraig Harrington pic.twitter.com/nBvgLig3HF
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 8, 2017
The 45-year-old began to strike the ball better on the inward nine, but failed to capitalise on several opportunities to move up the leaderboard, a lone birdie coming at the par-five 14th.
"I was all over the place on the front nine, but I had chances all the way home, lots of good chances," he added.
"So I'm a little bit disappointed with the one under at the end of the day. It was definitely two completely separate nines.
With another impressive week for the Irish Open nearing its conclusion on Sunday, Harrington struggled to envisage where there was still room for improvement with the popular event.
"I'd be happy if it stayed the same," he said. "There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes to make this a $7million event. I can't see how you could make it any better."
Paul Dunne had started the day one ahead of Harrington, with high hopes of mounting a serious challenge for his first victory on tour, but the Greystones man matched Harrington's unfortunate bogey-bogey start to rein in his ambitions.
Dunne got those shots back on the par-fives at the fourth and seventh, but another dropped shot at the eighth signalled what was to be a topsy-turvy day that ended with a two-over 74 and a six-under total.
Dunne is joined at six under by Shane Lowry, who, like Harrington, was disappointed with a round of 71 that featured six birdies, three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-five 13th.
Michael Hoey is also six under after carding a 70, while young Dubliner Gavin Moynihan dropped shots on his final two holes to fall back to five under after a 73.
