A birdie on the 18th halted the slide after Matt Wallace suffered a torrid run on the back nine at Kingsbarns to tumble down the leaderboard in the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

The Moor Park professional started the day three shots off the lead after following up his three-under-par opening round of 69 at St Andrews with a five-under 67 at Carnoustie yesterday.

Although defending champion Tyrrell Hatton was quickly among the birdies again as he set about taking a potentially decisive grip on the European Tour Pro-Am event – the Marlow golfer was to shoot a seven-under 65 for the second day running to end the day with a five-shot lead – Wallace was also making positive moves on a windy day.

Back-to-back birdies at the par three second and par four third moved the 27-year-old to ten-under, and he was to pick up another shot at the par four seventh to go out in 33 to position himself among the leading contenders.

But it was very much a case of unlucky 13 as a bogey four at that hole started a run that saw the Pinner golfer drop another five shots over the next four holes to drop back to five-under, before he finished on a positive note with a birdie three at the last.

The Open de Portugal champion was set to go into tomorrow’s final round at St Andrews in a share of 30th at the time of writing.

Moor Park club-mate Callum Shinkwin had been up against it after beginning his challenge in the three-course event with a four-over 76 at Carnoustie.

The Bushey professional played Kingsbarns in a level-par 72 yesterday, but his tournament ended on six-over-par following a two-over 74 at St Andrews, the highlight of his third round coming with an eagle two on 18.