Rory McIlroy, the 16 year old Irish amateur champion, celebrated making his first professional cut by carding a third round of one under 69 at the Morson International Pro-Am Challenge.
The youngster from Holywood in County Down was the only Irishman to make the cut at the Marriott Worsley Park Hotel and Country Club, and was happy to have made it into the final two rounds, having missed out on the weekend action at his three European Tour appearances this season.
"It could have been better could have been worse. I played alright again, got off to a good start and was two under after 12 holes but then dropped on the 13 and 14th. I then birdied the 15th, missed for birdie on 17 and then made a good par at the last.
"The weather was terrible again today for most of the round so it was not a bad score considering all that, and I am pretty happy to have made my first cut in a professional event, so it's been a good week for me - all part of the learning process and good experience for me."
There is a three way tie for the lead in Manchester, with Englishman Daniel Greenwood, Andres Romero of Argentina and Italy's Marco Soffietti all on seven under par.
