The 39-year-old Clandeboye veteran made six birdies to move up from 36th to tied 20th on 11-under heading into today’s fifth round at the Lakes Course.

But Mount Juliet star Power, 20, and Naas man O’Rourke, 32, were left wondering what might have been as they missed the four-round cut by the slimmest of margins on four-under and headed home with Derry’s Ruaidhri McGee (two-over) and Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy and Portmarnock’s Conor Purcell (both four-over).

Power was on the back foot after an opening 76 and while the two-time Walker Cup Power star shot rounds of 68 and 69 to give himself a chance, then made five birdies and a bogey in 13 holes yesterday to move inside the cut line, he three-putted his final hole from 30 feet to miss out by a shot on four-under after another 69.

“I’m gutted,” said the Kilkenny man, who made 17 birdies over his last three rounds. “The golf I’ve played after the first round I’m very proud of. I was extremely steady with only a handful of mistakes. I felt like I did more than enough to be playing the last couple of days.

“A really disappointing three-putt from 30 feet on my last hole after hitting a really nice six-iron in right down the flag. It hurts, but I’ll try to learn as much as I can from it and push on.

“I played so well today and could have given myself a nice cushion coming down the last few if a couple of putts had dropped but I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.” It was a similar tale for O’Rourke, who carded a bogey-free 68 but also missed the cut by the minimum.

“I’m proud and upbeat about how I performed,” said O’Rourke, whose second round 74 proved very costly. “Obviously, I had a bad finish on day two, but I’m proud of how I bounced back with two good rounds.

“I'm frustrated and obviously a little bit hurt but that's the name of the game. It’s win or learn, I guess, so I’ll be back at it.” McGee missed the cut by seven shots on two-over after a 72 while McElroy shot a one-under 71 and Purcell a three-over 75 to finish tied 131st on four-over.

Italy’s Filippo Celli extended his lead to three strokes by carding a five-under 66 to lead on 21-under from Denmark’s Sebastian Friedrichsen on a day when three-time DP World Tour winner Tom Lewis carded a bogey-free, 10-under 61 to climb from outside the cut mark into a share of 17th on 12-under.

DP World Tour Qualifying School, Infinitum, Tarragona (Lakes Course Par 71, Hills Course Par 72):  

265 F Celli (Ita) 68 65 66 66, 268 S Friedrichsen (Den) 67 66 68 67, 269 J Davidson (Wal) 67 66 70 66, 270 S Garcia (Esp) 67 65 69 69, 271 P Moolman (RSA) 71 66 70 64, J Goth-Rasmussen (Den) 69 65 68 69, 272 S Jones (Nzl) 68 69 70 65, M Besard (Bel) 70 67 70 65, D Van Driel (Ned) 70 66 70 66, F Schott (Ger) 68 63 75 66, J Berry (Am) (Eng) 67 68 70 67, 273 H Barron (Aus) 67 72 70 64, K Johannessen (Nor) 68 67 73 65, N Galletti (USA) 71 69 67 66, G Boyd (Eng) 70 65 71 67, B Follett-Smith (Zim) 69 65 72 67, 274 T Lewis (Eng) 71 69 73 61, N Von Dellingshausen (Ger) 71 66 69 68, K Broberg (Swe) 69 66 70 69, 275 J Caldwell (Nir) 74 68 66 67, J Kruyswijk (RSA) 70 67 72 66, J Dean (Eng) 69 72 67 67, 276 G Mason (Eng) 70 71 64 71, D Ravetto (Fra) 71 70 70 65, M Quiros (Esp) 71 70 68 67, R Enoch (Wal) 75 65 69 67, O Lindell (Fin) 70 70 69 67, J Moscatel Nachshon (Esp) 70 69 70 67, J Catlin (USA) 73 65 71 67, H Hopewell (Aus) 73 65 69 69, 277 G Porteous (Eng) 69 69 73 66, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 71 70 67 69, G Bourdy (Fra) 71 68 71 67, L Vacarisas (Esp) 72 69 68 68, J Nicholas (USA) 68 71 69 69, A Wilson (Eng) 69 70 69 69, R Paratore (Ita) 73 64 71 69, D Germishuys (RSA) 72 66 69 70, D Young (Sco) 68 69 70 70, J De Bruyn (Ger) 66 71 67 73, 278 C Blomstrand (Swe) 68 70 74 66, P Katich (Ger) 71 70 70 67, S Broholt Lind (Den) 72 67 71 68, F Mory (Fra) 69 68 73 68, A Garcia-Heredia (Esp) 69 68 70 71, D Fichardt (RSA) 69 67 71 71, J Andersen (Den) 64 70 73 71, 279 L Ruuska (Fin) 76 66 67 70, Q Vidal (Esp) 70 69 71 69, J Gumberg (USA) 69 69 71 70, P Figueiredo (Por) 70 68 70 71, P Bovari (Ita) 71 66 71 71, 280 B Thornberry (USA) 67 72 76 65, M Warren (Sco) 69 72 73 66, P Pineau (Fra) 78 66 67 69, B Rusch (Sui) 72 72 68 68, R Sciot-Siegrist (Fra) 74 64 73 69, M Giboudot (Am) (Fra) 70 69 71 70, H Brown (Den) 74 65 70 71, H Magnus (Isl) 66 69 74 71, 281 T Shadbolt (Eng) 74 72 64 71, M Kim (Kor) 73 69 66 73, O Hundeboll (Den) 72 69 66 74, A Levy (Fra) 75 71 67 68, J Senekal (RSA) 70 72 67 72, R Mcevoy (Eng) 71 72 68 70, S Hutsby (Eng) 70 72 68 71, R Kleu (Sui) 68 73 69 71, T Aiken (RSA) 73 68 71 69, W Besseling (Ned) 73 67 72 69, M Lindberg (Swe) 71 69 72 69, L Van Meijel (Ned) 77 68 70 66, S Brown (Eng) 72 71 70 68, a Venter (RSA) 71 70 70 70, C Mckinney (Aus) 71 69 71 70, M Couvra (Fra) 70 70 69 72, R Neergaard-Petersen (Den) 74 64 71 72, M Simonsen (Den) 70 66 70 75 

CUT: 282 J Warren (Aus) 78 68 65 71, E Smylie (Aus) 73 70 67 72, S Szirmak (Can) 72 70 67 73, C Howie (Sco) 70 72 67 73, C O'Rourke (Irl) 72 74 68 68, M Power (Irl) 76 68 69 69, M Hirmer (Ger) 71 67 75 69, T Pulkkanen (Fin) 66 69 78 69, M Hammer (Ger) 72 68 71 71, E Flores (USA) 70 68 73 71, 283 N Kristensen (Den) 72 71 66 74, A Ayora (Esp) 72 72 68 71, J Rutherford (Eng) 68 70 77 68, H Townsend (Swe) 73 71 69 70, C Fyfe (Sco) 73 70 69 71, J Lagergren (Swe) 70 73 69 71, W Dingle (RSA) 70 70 73 70, O Farr (Wal) 69 70 74 70, C Mcneill (Sco) 68 67 77 71, 284 O Gillberg (Swe) 76 69 65 74, H Ronneblad (Swe) 78 71 67 68, L Harries (Wal) 75 68 67 74, J Ruth (Eng) 73 68 68 75, J Brooks (Eng) 72 67 77 68, B Easton (RSA) 73 70 69 72, O Roberts (Sco) 69 73 69 73, M Sanchez (Aus) 72 67 76 69, R Roussel (Fra) 70 71 73 70, A Wennstam Holmqvist (Swe) 72 69 73 70, M Decottignies-lafon (Fra) 66 74 74 70, P Newcomb (USA) 72 69 74 69, 285 W Nienaber (RSA) 71 76 66 72, M Gandas (Ind) 71 70 78 66, a Errazuriz (Chi) 73 71 67 74, A Quiros (Esp) 76 69 69 71, J Wang (Kor) 74 71 70 70, O Farrell (Eng) 69 74 71 71, M Madsen (Den) 68 71 75 71, 286 C Madey (USA) 74 73 66 73, T Gouveia (Por) 75 73 67 71, B Schmidt (Eng) 71 70 74 71, 287 V Meyer (Ger) 74 70 67 76, N Regner (Aut) 74 68 67 78, C Pigem (Esp) 73 69 71 74, O Edwards (Wal) 75 69 72 71, G Havret (Fra) 70 72 73 72, 288 B Virto (Esp) 73 69 68 78, R McGee (Irl) 69 74 73 72, E Harmeling (USA) 74 69 74 71, 289 L Brown (RSA) 78 71 70 70, G Evans (Eng) 72 70 70 77, J Marchesani (Aus) 75 69 72 73, 290 C Purcell (Irl) 76 72 67 75, a Daydou (Fra) 78 71 70 71, Z Bai (Chn) 72 71 71 76, D McElroy (Nir) 71 76 72 71, 291 M Oshrine (USA) 69 80 68 74, a Zemmer (Ita) 73 73 72 73, A Lautee (Aus) 73 71 72 75, Y Sandhu (Ind) 73 74 73 71, D Erickson (USA) 72 70 73 76, A Spencer (USA) 71 70 73 77, P Launer Baek (Den) 70 73 76 72, O Fisher (Eng) 74 68 76 73, 292 T Collet (USA) 73 74 70 75, C Guichard (Fra) 69 75 70 78, K Sterbinsky (USA) 72 74 73 73, J Ashfield (Am) (Wal) 70 69 79 74, 293 D Howell (Eng) 76 73 71 73, J Hawksby (Eng) 72 69 78 74, 295 M Toorop (Ned) 74 77 67 77, 296 R Lumsden (Sco) 75 70 78 73, 299 Z Jing (Chn) 75 77 68 79, 300 J Hansen (Den) 74 75 78 73, 303 F Nilehn (Swe) 77 75 74 77.