HURT PRIDE became a powerful motivator for Darren Clarke who swept to within a stroke of the leader, Ian Woosnam, in the third round of the £1.1 million Volvo PGA Championship here on the West Course yesterday. By way of emphasising his determination, the 28 year old carded a best of the day 66 to be 10 under par at this stage.

Clarke will now be paired with the 1988 champion in the last pairing today; which caused him to smile as he recalled an exhibition match with the Welshman at Vilamoura, Portugal, last month, when Woosnam gave him the typically simple advice: "Just stand up and hit it."

A high quality leaderboard has brought two further Wentworth experts together in the penultimate pairing. After a remarkable par on the 18th, Nick Faldo finished level with Ernie Els, winner of the World Matchplay here for the last three years.

Meanwhile, Ireland's other seven qualifiers met with decidedly mixed fortune. In fact, Philip Walton, who finished with an eagle three to be on five under for the championship, looks to be the only one in line for a high finish. Eamonn Darcy, joint leader with Clarke last Friday, suffered in Els' shadow with a 76 which included a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie at the 16th.

Clarke's need to vindicate himself stemmed from the bitter disappointment of losing a match he should have won against Costantino Rocca at Buckinghamshire GC last Tuesday. Though he was reluctant to heighten its significance, he admitted to having learned from the experience".

In the context of his winning prospects here, the climax to yesterday's round could hardly have been more stimulating. Granted, the 502 yard 18th was decidedly vulnerable to birdies, but not necessarily from the position in which Clarke finished after a pushed, three iron approach.

His ball was in rough on the rise to the right of the green, and there was only 12 feet from the fringe, downhill to the flag. Displaying a delightful touch, he bumbled the ball with a nine iron through the rough and through the fringe, leaving it with jiist sufficient pace to ease down to within a foot of the hole to set up his seventh birdie of the round.

"Those shots become a lot easier when your touch has been good with the putter all day," he said. And the touch was unquestionably good: he had 28 putts for the round, helped by a chip in birdie from off the back of the 16th.

His card also contained an eagle at the 483 yard 12th, which he had also reduced to three strokes in the opening round last Friday. On this occasion, he hit a glorious four iron second to within three feet of the target. It was a memorable round for a variety of reasons.

Not least of these was a stunning start of four successive birdies, for which he sank putts ranging in length from two to 20 feet. In tact, there were five threes on his card, but none of them at a par three. Though he birdied the short second, he bogeyed the other three short holes, largely through indifferent midiron play.

"This is why I play the game: I'm now in among the top players in a big tournament and I intend to do my best to win it," said Clarke, who also carded a 66 in the prechampionship proam and in the first round last Friday. And one may be sure the Ulsterman is acutely aware that even the runner up prize money of £122,210 would copper fasten a place in September's Ryder Cup team.

After his eagle at the 12th, Clarke was tied with Woosnam and Els for the lead on nine under par. Stephen Ames, in the next group, also reached that mark, while Faldo actually got to 10 under after a birdie at the short 14th. But much drama was to unfold during the final hour.

It transpired that Ames had incurred a two stroke penalty after Tour officials checked video evidence of his play on the 12th green. Ames was unsure whether the infringement had actually occurred, but the video confirmed his hall had moved at address, albeit by only half an inch. So he compounded the problem by failing to replace the ball.

Faldo also had an eventful round, but for different reasons. He suffered a nosebleed while playing the 11th, causing Fanny Suncsson to double up as caddie and first aid nurse, using all sorts of cloth to stem the flow. And all the while he was at odds with a putter which let him down badly on the 17th, where he missed from two feet to run up a bogey six.

Then came the par at the last. After driving into a fairway bunker, a thinned eight iron recovery hit the lip. Out at the second attempt, he went on to sink a 25 foot putt for a most improbable par. His mood was captured in the comment: "If I can somehow get some freedom with the putter tomorrow...

Els, meanwhile, agreed that his round had been saved by an eagle on the 18th. The South African tumbled down the leaderboard after three putting the 15th and blocking his drive at the long 7th, both for bogeys. But he sank a 15 footer from the right fringe at the 18th to claim a share of third place.

"If I get off to a decent start tomorrow, I can win," said Woosnam, after a 70 that contained only four birdies."

But he was unhappy with the greens. He birdied the 17th with a sandwedge third shot to three feet, but missed the opportunity of another four at the last by pushing his drive into the right rough. From there, an attempted cut with a three wood clipped the trees and he took three more to get down, missing a 10 foot putt.