Darren Clarke is in prime position for a first win on the European Tour in five years after an impressive five-under-par 67 in the third round of the BMW Asian Open put him one stroke clear at the top of the leaderboard.

The 2006 Ryder Cup star had started the day a shot off the pace after a three-under-par 69 yesterday and he continued his good form today with some particularly impressive putting.

Clarke picked up his first birdie on the par-five second when he putted from 12 feet and after putting to save par on the next hole he then added another birdie on the sixth, hitting his approach shot to within seven feet of the pin before making the putt.

The Northern Irishman made par on the rest before adding a birdie on the 10th and finished strongly with birdie-putts on the par-five 15th and 18th to secure the clubhouse lead going into the final round.

"I played really well today," said Clarke. "I am very pleased with the way I hit the ball and I think a 67 is very good. "I am looking forward to tomorrow and I just hope I can keep doing what I am doing."

Clarke is one stroke ahead of joint second-round leader Robert-Jan Derksen after the Dutchman carded a three-under-par 69 today.

Derksen bogeyed the fifth before completing the front nine strongly with birdies on the sixth and par-four ninth.

He then added three more birdies against one bogey coming home to ensure he remains in contention.

Rory McIlroy carded a third round 69 to find himself tied 15th on one-under. Peter Lawrie was a shot further back after his round of 70. Gary Murphy's 73 left the Kilkenny man well-off the pace at four-over.

European Tour rookie Robert Dinwiddie had taken the clubhouse lead after a superb run on the back nine saw him return to the clubhouse with a six-under-par 66.

Lin Wen-tang of Chinese Taipei is three strokes off the lead at five under-par overall after carding a three-under-par 69.

World number 13 Henrik Stenson finished his round level par after carding four birdies and two double bogeys and is even par overall while defending champion Raphael Jacquelin was back in the clubhouse at five over par overall after carding 74 today.

Collated third round scores and totals in the European Tour BMW Asian Open, Tomson
Shanghai Pudong GC, Shanghai, China

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

207 Darren Clarke 71 69 67

208 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 70 69 69

209 Robert Dinwiddie 70 73 66

211 Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 71 71 69

213 Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 75 69 69, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 67 74 72, Mu Hu
(Chn) 73 69 71, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 74 72 67

214 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 76 70, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 75 68, Scott
Hend (Aus) 69 74 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 70 72, David Gleeson (Aus) 73 73 68,
Miles Tunnicliff 71 70 73

215 Rory McIlroy 73 73 69, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 71 71 73, Lian-Wei Zhang (Chn)
70 69 76, Mark Brown (Nzl) 75 67 73, Chris Rodgers 71 73 71, John Bickerton 71
75 69, Paul Broadhurst 71 73 71

216 Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 75 71 70, Oliver Wilson 68 74 74, Joost Luiten (Ned) 71
75 70, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 74 73 69, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 75 70, Peter Lawrie
72 74 70, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 70 74 72, Iain Steel (Mal) 71 74 71, Henrik
Stenson (Swe) 68 76 72, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 70 73 73

217 Young-Woo Nam (Kor) 72 73 72, Hendrik Buhrmann (Rsa) 71 75 71, Michael
Campbell (Nzl) 71 76 70, Greg Norman (Aus) 71 73 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad
Chowrasia (Ind) 72 73 72, Sam Little 71 76 70, Adam Blyth (Aus) 74 70 73

218 Paul Lawrie 75 72 71, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 72 74, Jean-Francois Lucquin
(Fra) 74 70 74, Simon Yates 74 73 71, Chao Li (Chn) 71 72 75, Barry Lane 74 71
73, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 73 74 71

219 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 73 71 75, Carl Suneson (Spa) 71 73 75, Ross Fisher 72
73 74, Marcus Both (Aus) 73 74 72, Richard Lee (Can) 70 75 74, David Frost (Rsa)
72 75 72

220 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 75 72 73, Gary Murphy 74 73 73, Shiv Kapur (Ind)
71 75 74, Ross McGowan 71 74 75, Simon Wakefield 73 72 75

221 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 68 76 77, Julio Zapata (Arg) 73 72 76, Raphael Jacquelin
(Fra) 73 74 74

222 Scott Barr (Aus) 72 74 76, Keith Horne (Rsa) 77 70 75

223 Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 73 78

224 Phillip Price 73 73 78, Mong-nan Hsu (Tpe) 73 74 77

225 Richard Finch 72 75 78, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 74 72 79