Thorbjorn Olesen tied at the top of congested Irish Open leaderboard

Elvira set the early-afternoon clubhouse target with a bogey-free round of 66, with Olesen joining him at six under par after recovering from an early setback with eight birdies at the K Club. A closing birdie saw Langasque move alongside the pair.

Manuel Elvira reached that mark shortly after the turn before ending the day four under, in a tie for eighth behind Bernd Wiesberger, Daniel Brown, Adrien Saddier and Zander Lombard, who was still to complete his final hole.

Nacho Elvira started on the back nine and reached the turn in 36, one under par, thanks to a birdie at the 13th.

"I hit the ball pretty decent; probably the best that I've played in the last two, three months I would say. But I putted really well and I tried not to put myself in dangerous situations," said Elvira.

"I was in play off the tee pretty much all day. And then the greens are soft; very difficult to control the spin. But they are very receptive, so I took advantage and I made a lot of putts.

"I hit a good tee shot on 10 then I was always trying to be a little bit away from those pins because they're short-sided. I managed to have good speed today and made a lot of putts. Then hit a couple of good shots coming in on both par-threes and I made a good birdie on eight and very happy with the day."

Olesen's round got off to a less than ideal start with a double bogey at the par-three third after what he described as "a full duffed five-iron straight in the water" off the tee.

From there, though, he reeled off eight birdies with no further blemishes, with chip-ins at both the 14th and 17th followed by a five-foot putt at the last to see him into a share of the lead.

"I holed two chip shots on the back nine, holed a couple of good putts also," he said. "I didn't feel like my game was that great actually, but around the turn it definitely got better and I hit some good shots coming in.

"But yeah, I had some good breaks also today. (The 17th felt) probably closer to a bogey than a birdie but yeah, great flop shot and obviously a good break that it goes in. Very pleased with that."

Langasque had three birdies and one bogey on the back nine, where he started his round, before picking up another shot at the first.

Back-to-back birdies at the fourth and fifth put him firmly in contention and he rounded off a good day with an approach inside six feet for another at the last.

Brown started on the back nine and turned in 32, five under - where he stayed after three more birdies and three bogeys on the front nine.

Saddier was level with the leaders until he bogeyed the seventh, his 16th hole, while Wiesberger also had only one dropped shot on his card. Play was suspended for the night with Lombard in the middle of the ninth fairway, his final hole.

Manuel Elvira flew out of the traps with a birdie at the 12th and three in a row from the 14th - then responded to his bogey at the 17th with three more gains in succession.

The last of those, via an 18-foot putt at the second, took him into a share of the lead with Nacho and though he then dropped shots after finding the trees at the fifth and water on the seventh, he finished within two of the lead.

He was alongside another Spaniard in Rafa Cabrera Bello, Frenchman David Ravetto and Finland's Oliver Lindell.

Home favourite Shane Lowry was happy with his new Srixon driver as he carded 69 to put himself in a large group at three under. Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy, who won the Masters in April to complete the career Grand Slam, was one under.