Golf:Ireland's Peter Lawrie charged through the field with an eight-under-par 63 in the third round of the Omega European Masters in Switzerland, but he'll need something similar again if he is to have any hope of catching Miguel Angel Jimenez, who takes a three-stroke lead over Ryder Cup team-mate Edoardo Molinari into the final round.
Two weeks after he lost a play-off for the Czech Open to Swede Peter Hanson, Lawrie made the halfway cut with nothing to spare at one-under-par, but he turned it all around today.
Eight birdies in his last 13 holes gave the 36-year-old DUbliner the lowest round of his European Tour career and lifted him all the way from 61st to a share of seventh on nine under, one ahead of Darren Clarke. The Ulsterman shot a 68, the same score as Gareth Maybin who moved to five under. However, a 77 left Michael Hoey back on four over.
Jimenez, whose second round 61 was his career best, could have led Molinari by four but for a moment of absent-mindedness by the 46-year-old on the 10th fairway at Crans-sur-Sierre.
He momentarily forgot that placing was allowed only on the sixth hole and by picking up his ball incurred a one-shot penalty.
It turned his third round 67 into a 68 - the same as Molinari - and gave him a 17 under total.
If either of them goes on to take the £271,662 first prize that will make it four wins in a row for members of Colin Montgomerie's side.
The run of success by 'Monty's Men' started when German Martin Kaymer lifted his first major at the US PGA Championship three weeks ago.
That was followed by Swede Peter Hanson capturing the Czech Open and then by Molinari grabbing the Johnnie Walker Championsip victory he probably needed to earn a wild card for next month's match against the Americans at Celtic Manor.
"It's a pity," said Jimenez, thinking back to the incident at the 10th. "I marked it and picked it up like it is preferred lies. Then I thought 'what are you doing?'
"But I'm still feeling good. It's very difficult to follow up a really low score. Anything you do looks like you are doing nothing."
That did not apply to his early golf as the Malaga golfer, making his 22nd successive trip to the Alpine resort, birdied four of the first eight holes.
But after the blunder on the 10th he also bogeyed the 12th and 14th before hitting back with birdies on the par five next and the 402-yard last, where he sank a 20-footer.
Molinari, hoping to make it back-to-back wins before he takes three weeks off to rest and then prepare for his cup debut alongside his brother Francesco, uncharacteristically lost his temper with a photographer on the seventh tee.
"After I hit -1 come on!" yelled the Italian, who nevertheless hit his tee shot on the driveable par four to within six feet of the flag.
He missed the eagle putt, birdied the next two as well to be out in 32 like Jimenez, but his only deviation from par on the way home was a four at the short 13th - his only bogey of the tournament so far.
One shot further back in joint third are his 17-year-old compatriot Matteo Manassero and England's Steve Webster.
A top-five finish might well be enough for Manassero, last year's British amateur champion, to earn a card for next season from the six starts he has so far had as a professional.
But a 69 kept alive his hopes of becoming the European Tour's youngest-ever champion, while Webster moved into the picture with a superb 64 highlighted by an eagle on the 15th.
That was not the low round of the day, though. After making the cut with nothing to spare, Irishman Peter Lawrie - beaten in a play-off in the Czech Republic a fortnight ago - burst from 61st to seventh with a 63.
Collated third round scores & totals in the European tour Omega European Masters, Crans-sur-Sierre, Crans, Switzerland, (Irish in bold, par 71)
196Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 67 61 68
199Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 66 65 68
200Steve Webster 66 70 64, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 64 67 69
203Oliver Wilson 68 68 67, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 69 69 65
204Anthony Wall 67 68 69, Seung-yul Noh (Kor) 71 66 67, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 70 68 66, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 68 66 70, Robert Coles 66 71 67, Pablo Martin (Spa) 70 67 67, Peter Lawrie 72 69 63, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 70 68 66
205Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 67 68 70, John Parry 70 68 67, David Dixon 67 69 69, Darren Clarke 67 70 68
206David Drysdale 66 70 70, Chris Wood 69 69 68, Marc Warren 69 69 68, Rick Kulacz (Aus) 66 72 68, Phillip Price 68 68 70, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 72 66 68, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 69 69 68
207Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 65 67 75, Adam Blyth (Aus) 71 70 66, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 71 70 66
208Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 68 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 70 69, Gareth Maybin 69 71 68, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 69 71, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 68 70, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 68 68 72, Mark Foster 74 65 69, Graeme Storm 65 68 75
209Anders Hansen (Den) 68 67 74, Jamie Donaldson 68 68 73, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 68 70, Julien Clement (Swi) 68 72 69, Chapchai Nirat (Tha) 66 73 70, Chinnarat Phadungsil (Tha) 72 67 70
210Soren Hansen (Den) 67 71 72, Paul Waring 67 71 72, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 69 68 73, Simon Dyson 69 67 74, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 76 64 70, Brett Rumford (Aus) 70 70 70, Angelo Que (Phi) 70 69 71, Ross McGowan 68 73 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 71 69 70
211Gary Lockerbie 68 69 74, Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 73 68 70, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 70 71, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 67 75, Fredrik Svanberg (Swi) 70 68 73, James Kamte (Rsa) 68 73 70
212Martin Wiegele (Aut) 69 71 72, Richard Bland 72 69 71, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 67 71 74, Tano Goya (Arg) 72 68 72, David Lynn 72 69 71
213Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 68 72 73, Ben Leong (Mal) 69 71 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 68 70 75
214Sung null Lee (Pkr) 74 67 73
215Nick Dougherty 69 72 74, Andrew Dodt (Aus) 71 69 75
216Julien Quesne (Fra) 74 67 75
217Danny Willett 70 69 78, Michael Hoey 71 69 77
218Alastair Forsyth 68 73 77