Gary Murphy & Niclas Fasth retain lead

Ireland's Gary Murphy has set himself up for a chance to clinch his European Tour card for next season and beyond in emphatic fashion at the Mallorca Classic.

After rounds of 66, 71 and an even-par 70 on Saturday the 34-year-old from Kilkenny finds himself sharing the lead with Sweden's Niclas Fasth and entertaining thoughts of claiming a first European Tour title and a two-year exemption.

The top 118 players on the Order of Merit on Sunday evening retain their playing rights for 2007 and Murphy began the week in 118th place, just $1,355 ahead of England's David Carter.

Murphy led by two shots after birdies at the first and sixth but also trailed by two following three bogeys in six holes around the turn.

"I'm pretty happy although I left a couple of shots out there," Murphy said. "I'm a bit surprised to still be leading as the conditions were a lot better but it's so easy to drop silly shots out there and that's what I was trying to avoid doing.

"Par is your friend out there, if you could make 18 pars you would be very happy. I'm just trying to be patient and not try to do something I'm not capable of."

Murphy thought he had done enough to secure his card by finishing third at the Russian Open back in August - his best finish in seven years on tour - but then missed the next four cuts.

"I would say Russia was the only event I thought I had a really good chance of winning and went into it aiming to shoot 20-under-par," said Murphy, who would qualify for next week's lucrative Volvo Masters with victory on Sunday. "That's the only time I've set targets for myself and it nearly worked."

Australia's Peter O'Malley is one shot off the pace after a 68 with Scotland's Marc Warren, winner of the Scandinavian Masters in August, another stroke back after a 71.

Pre-tournament favorite Sergio Garcia, first and second here in the last two years, is three off the lead after a third successive round of 70 left him at even-par.

"There were a lot of good shots but unfortunately a couple of bad ones and I couldn't really get anything going," Garcia said. "Although it was not as windy as the first two days the wind was changing all the time, I've never seen it change so much in my life.

"I have a chance tomorrow and hopefully I can get a good round in. If it's windy an under-par score might do it and if not I'll need to shoot a 65. I hope I have that in me."

Earlier in the day England's Jamie Spence had given himself a fighting chance of keeping his card with a third-round 66, a score only beaten by Carlos Rodiles' 64.

The 43-year-old from Kent began the week in 126th on the money list and is likely to need a top-10 finish to survive.

"I could have had a really low round today but made three bogeys out of nowhere on the back nine," Spence said. "I played great yesterday in a gale, it's just a shame about the first round. I think I need to finish in the top 10, but I've not made any plans yet if I don't do it. I'm certainly going to play next year but I don't think I could get motivated to go back to the tour school."