Pre-tournament favourite Sergio Garcia, never outside the top two in three appearances, was five under with just one hole of his third round to play.

Meanwhile, England’s Richard Finch is on course to save his European Tour card at the last attempt.

Finch carded a third-round 66 for a seven-under-par total of 203 at Pula Golf Club, finishing just before the siren sounded to suspend play for the day, three shots behind leader Derksen.

Several more famous names than Finch were not so fortunate however, tour winners David Carter, David Park and Sven Struver facing a trip to the qualifying school next month after missing the halfway cut.

Three-time tour winner Struver (121st on the money list), former World Cup winner Carter (171st) and Park (166th) – winner of the European Grand Prix in 1999 on only his second tour start – sealed their fate once they missed out on the last 36 holes.

Former Ryder Cup player Andrew Coltart maintains a slim hope of keeping his card after making the cut right on the mark of three over and improving to one over with two holes of his third round to play.

Coltart is 169th on the money list without a single top-10 finish all season, but he is 41st on the career money list – the top 40 in that category also earn a tour card – and is just over £22,000 behind Seve Ballesteros.

Finishing 13th or better in Mallorca would save Coltart from a first visit to the dreaded qualifying school since 1993 and the Scot was 38th overnight, albeit just four shots out of a tie for 13th.

Ireland's Peter Lawrie is tied in fourth place at -8 after 15 holes, while Gary Murphy and Graeme McDowell share 19th spot on -2. McDowell and Murphy were able to complete their rounds today.

Paul McGinley is three holes short of a full round on -1, while Damien McGrane finished his round on one over.