Garcia closes in on leader Cabrera

Sergio Garcia, the most exciting teenager in world golf, took another step towards becoming the youngest ever Ryder Cup player.

While John Daly crashed to an 81 and last place, the 19-year-old Spanish wonder boy goes into the final round of the Murphy's Irish Open - only his sixth professional tournament - in joint second spot, just two behind Argentina's Angel Cabrera.

Eagles at both the 522-yard 11th and 535-yard 16th were the highlights of a four-under-par 67 at windy Druids Glen, which took Garcia on to the nine-under-par total of 204.

Already with finishes of third and 11th in his two starts on the American Tour - and with a round of 62 under his belt - Garcia nevertheless described his inward 32 as "probably the best nine holes I've ever played".

The burly Cabrera, however, came in with a second successive 66 to take over at the top from Welshman Phil Price (75) and Danish rookie Soren Hansen (76), while Colin Montgomerie has four strokes to make up in joint fifth place with Ireland's Eamonn Darcy after a 71.

Garcia, now level with Australian Jarrod Moseley, is already being tipped for a Ryder Cup wild card when the qualifying race ends late next month - but he might yet make the team as of right.

Victory tomorrow would earn him £166,657, take his winnings already to more than £325,000 and make him the first teenager to win on the European tour since Paul Way lifted the 1982 Dutch Open.

Lucky to escape with a bogey six on the fifth - he thought he had lost two balls in the rough off the tee, but the first was eventually found - Garcia lashed an "incredible" three-wood to 30 feet on the 11th and sank the putt.

He followed that with a 20-footer for birdie on the next and, after bogeying the dangerous 13th, pitched to seven feet to pick up another stroke on the next.

The shot which brought him into a share of the lead brought another "incredible" description from him. Again it was a three-wood and it finished four feet from the 16th flag.

Missing a five-foot par putt on the 17th and a curling six-footer for birdie at the last failed to take the smile off his young face.

"When I was an amateur I always said I was there to win - that's my mentality," he said.

"I am not surprising myself by the way I've started my pro career."

Thirty-year-old Cabrera is also chasing his maiden tour win, having finished second to Tom Kite in the 1996 Oki Pro-am in Spain and to Montgomerie in the Benson and Hedges International at the Oxfordshire this May.

Commendably in the conditions, he did not drop a stroke all day, picking up birdies at all three par fives plus the third and 12th.

Before he teed off, Montgomerie was made an honorary life member of the club. But he failed to celebrate in the way he had hoped.

The award was to recognise the Scot's magnificent achievement in establishing the course record of 62 two years ago and never having been beaten over 72 holes.

Montgomerie won the title in 1996 and 1997 and was beaten only in a play-off by David Carter last year. But it will take something special from him again to maintain that.

He was alongside Garcia and Moseley with two to play but bogeyed the last two holes.

Earlier, Irishman Des Smyth charged to eight under - and second place at the time - by collecting an amazing eight birdies in 12 holes. But the 46-year-old then covered the last six in four over to tumble off the leaderboard again.

The former Ryder Cup player finished with "only" a four-under-par 67 to be four under, the same mark as Lee Westwood.

"I thought nobody would ever break the course record of 62 here but I had a chance," said Smyth.

"The record came into my mind on the 13th and probably it shouldn't have done. It was a bit of a collapse."

The fans following Daly, however, needed a calculator with them again.

The controversial American, who had an 11 during the US Open two weeks ago and a fortnight before that six-putted for a 10 at the Memorial Tournament, blasted a drive out of bounds on the long fifth and took a triple-bogey eight.

But that was not the end of the adventure. After three bogeys in four holes around the turn he ran up a triple-bogey seven at the dangerous 471-yard 13th - a hole he had called one of the toughest he had ever seen.

His drive was fine, but his second flew into the trees never to be seen again.

Daly's bag carries the words "God, wisdom, courage, serenity" - but when asked if he thought the Almighty was testing him he replied: "Sometimes you wonder if he is even up there".

At that time he did not know that a player named Angel would be leading.

Price's title hopes, meanwhile, suffered two serious late blows with double bogeys at both the 13th and 18th, where he hit his second into the water guarding the green.