Like the archetypal angry man, with dark clouds hovering over him, Darren Clarke went in search of sanctuary. "My head's off," was all the world number nine could manage as he stormed away, only to return moments later to explain away his frustration.

Most players who had just signed for a third round 68 in the Volvo PGA championship over the Burma Road course would have been more than happy with their day's work. Not Clarke. A day that had promised so much hadn't fully delivered, and he knew it better than anyone. Having covered the front stretch in a day's best 31 strokes, and adding a further birdie on the 12th, Clarke had a great chance to put himself right into the thick of things.

However, an untidy finish, that included a bogey on the 15th and missed birdie chances on the closing three holes, left him on the seven-under-par 209 mark and fuming. "I had an opportunity to get myself right in there and I have wasted it. That's why I am so disappointed. With so many of those closing holes playing with the wind, I was hoping to shoot 64, 65. And I didn't. That's why I'm so annoyed," he said.

With the wind swirling and the tricky pin positions, Clarke - who had changed his putter after missing three times from inside two feet in Saturday's second round - gave himself a real chance to get into contention with a front nine that had started with a bogey but then bore five birdies, including a hat-trick from the seventh.

On Saturday evening, Clarke had returned to his Sunningdale home, sat down by his computer and downloaded some images of his swing to coach Butch Harmon in Las Vegas. "We talked about a few things and decided to change putters as well," said Clarke. For the most part, his swing was back close to where he would want it as he covered the first 12 holes in five-under; it was the finish, though, that brought the anger. "I'm just not converting my chances," he insisted.

While Clarke, who has averaged 30 putts for each of the first three days, felt he had left many shots out on the course, his demeanour was in stark contrast to that of Wexford club professional Damien McGrane - playing in the championship because of his Irish Region PGA ranking - who added a third round 70 to move to six-under-par 210.

"I was a lot more relaxed today. For the first couple of days, I was playing and concentrating 100 per cent," he said. "To make your first cut at Wentworth takes a huge weight off your shoulders. I haven't set myself any goals or targets. I'm just trying to stay relaxed and taking it one shot at a time."

Certainly, McGrane showed little pressure - particularly over the finishing two holes which, for the second day running, he went birdie-birdie. In fact, a testimony to his long driving is that he had eagle putts on both holes. Padraig Harrington, meanwhile, who had slumped to a 75 on Saturday, finished on five-under-par 211 after shooting 69, but he was unhappy with his oncourse concentration again. On Saturday, for only the second time in his professional career, Harrington had a round that didn't feature a single birdie. At least he had the satisfaction of holing four birdie putts yesterday - with just a single bogey - but even a post-round conclave with coach Bob Torrance the previous evening hadn't managed to fully sort out his game. "I haven't figured out what is wrong," he insisted.

In contrast, Paul McGinley - who slipped further down the field with a third round 73 for three-under-par 213 - suggested mental fatigue was probably the likely reason for his slide. "I've definitely lost the momentum that I have had for the past few weeks. This is my fifth tournament in five weeks and I have been in contention in every one. Mentally, I am just not with it and I am already looking forward to a week's break next week."

Typical of McGinley's fortunes yesterday was a doublebogey six at the eighth. With just 132 yards to the flag, and the wind on his back, his eightiron approach was pulled left and kicked into the water hazard. It meant he turned in four-over 39, but he showed his fighting qualities by recording three successive birdies from the 10th. Des Smyth, who had overcome some poor driving in his opening two rounds when he hit just 11 of 28 fairways by scrambling well, failed to maintain that trend. Yesterday, he had to birdie the last two holes to rescue a round of 75 for 213, while Eamonn Darcy had a 71 for 214. David Higgins was on 217 after a 74.