Dan Brown comes close to another birdie but his monster effort drops just short of the hole on 15.

He is having an excellent day and has found form at the right time. Even staying on McIlroy's tail will keep the pressure on.

Jordan Smith's afternoon is going from bad to worse as he has now bogeyed four of his last five holes to slip away from contention.

Spaniard Adrian Otaegui is on the same score after 12 after some early promise as is Finland's Sami Valimaki.

Robert MacIntyre is playing in neutral somewhat with eight out of ten pars. He is still not out of it on three under but will want to start picking up shots.

Image source, Inpho

McIlroy and Manassero have to negotiate a couple of short putts to secure their pars on 10 and both drop into the hole.

Dan Brown is having a marvellous round and he came millimetres away from a tie of the lead.

His birdie putt breaks ever-so-slightly to the right of the hole but he taps home the par putt to keep the heat on the home hero.

The Englishman has four more holes to pick up shots.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Royal County Down

That was a huge roar for Hojgaard's chip-in. It created a lot of excitement around the ninth with people wondering who it was and what they'd scored.

It's not lost on McIlroy either. He's starting to look really shaky now as another birdie chance goes a-beggin'.

McIlroy has another great birdie chance after a superb approach but misreads his eight-foot effort as he catches the right lip and fails to drops. Manassero grafts to another par as he holes a tricky four footer.

Rory McIlroy looked in control of the Irish Open 45 minutes or so ago when he led by four but it's a very different picture now as Dan Brown has moved to within one shot of the home hero.

And Hojgaard chipping in improbably for birdie from one of the sand dunes beside the 10th green means he joins Manassero in being only two off the pace.

What a shot from Rasmus Hojgaard! I said he would hope to start his back nine well and how about a chip in from the gorse for a birdie?

His tee shot left a bit to be desired as he veered off to the left on the hill but he bounced it home for an improbable birdie two.

The enormous cheer that erupted will be heard all around the course...

Where we once had a squad of players on four under, it is now just Grant Forrest and Rasmus Hojgaard on that score.

The Dane is just about to start the back nine as he will look to string some good holes together.

McIlroy looked set to respond to that first dropped shot with a birdie after a delightful wedge shot but didn't allow enough break with his eight-foot putt.

Moments earlier, Manassero had rolled in his decidedly tricky 20-foot birdie effort into the middle of the cup. So there is only two shots between the players in the final pairing as they move to the ninth tee.

And Dan Brown's progress means McIlroy's lead is now down to a single shot.

Grant Forrest finishes his round with just his second dropped shot of what was an excellent day for the Scotsman. With plenty to come behind him, he will be hoping that will be enough for a first top ten finish of the season.

Meanwhile, Dan Brown almost eagled the 12th but his birdie is enough to put him within a shot of the lead.

The top of the board is getting tighter with much better conditions for low scoring today.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Royal County Down

As soon as McIlroy bogeyed the seventh, he went over and had a good, long look at the leaderboard.

He knows exactly where he is - and knows this is far from over.

Jordan Smith's charge to second place didn't last long as the Englishman has bogeyed three in a row to drop to 2 under.

In this tight leaderboard, there is little room for a disastrous run like that.

Rory McIlroy has the first mini crisis of his round as he follows his pulled tee shot at the short seventh with a slightly clumsy chip to about 10 feet for par. The putt doesn't drop as he cards his first bogey of the day.

The home hero now leads Grant Forrest and Dan Brown by two shots.

Manassero, meanwhile, is now only three behind McIlroy as he produces a delightful chip to four feet from the heather and holes the putt.

It has been an up-and-down week for Shane Lowry but he goes round his final 18 with a three under 68.

That battle with McIlroy never quite materialsied but he still exits the final green to rapturous cheers and applause as he finishes a very solid round with a par.

Englishman Daniel Brown is another who has had a quietly good round as he has just birdied the 11th to move onto five under along with Grant Forrest who is playing the last.

Brown eagled the first and has been solid ever since. The chasing pack is jostling behind McIlroy.

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Royal County Down

The view from the seventh tee.

McIlroy liked the look of his shot but he won't be too thrilled with the end result.

We need a big charge from someone just to juice up the tension out here a bit.

Image source, BBC Sport

Another hole and another safe par for Rory McIlroy after another solid approach to 30 feet and putt stone dead. By contrast, Manassero had to work hard for his par as he had to hole a six-footer to remain four behind the leader.

Image source, Mcilroy

Matt Gault
BBC Sport NI at Royal County Down

There's people spilling out over the ropes left, right and centre all over the place.

"DON'T BREAK THE ROPE LINE!" can be heard every few minutes.

The Rory effect.

Image source, BBC Sport