It seemed as if their munificence knew no bounds, as the golfing gods heaped more favours on Darren Clarke in the third round of the Stg£1.35 million Smurfit European Open at the K Club yesterday. And like a worthy beneficiary, he accepted them gratefully to open a six-stroke lead after 54 holes.

Sparked by a hole-in-one at the short fifth, Clarke shot a splendid 66 to be 17 under par at this stage. In the process, his 18-under-par aggregate for the last 36 holes equalled the European record set by Colin Montgomerie at Cranssur-Sierre three years ago.

"It was great to have so many people cheering me on today and I hope I'll give them something to cheer about when it's all over," he said. "Looking at the leaderboard, if I can shoot 68, someone is going to have to go really low to beat me."

His closest challenger entering today's final round is the gifted Australian Peter O'Malley, whose 11-under-par total has been crafted in back nines of 32, 33 and 32. Yesterday's effort culminated in an eagle three at the 518-yard 18th, which he reduced to a drive, three-iron and 30-foot putt.

More significantly, the formidable Lee Westwood and Colin Montgomerie lost ground. Last weekend's Dutch Open champion was 11 under and only two strokes adrift of Clarke playing the 11th. Where the Irishman carded a birdie, however, Westwood's drive hit a tree and he then got a flier through the green to run up a double-bogey six.

Meanwhile, Montgomerie was not exactly oozing bonhomie after a 69 which owed precious little to success on the greens. "I had 35 putts yesterday and 34 today and you can't win tournaments doing that," he said. On being told he was tied second at that stage, he replied acidly: "I didn't come here to finish second."

Clarke's figures so far are hugely impressive. Apart from Saturday's round of 60, he achieved a downward progression of 3, 2, 1 at the short fifth over the three days; he has carded 20 birdies and an eagle and has birdied the long first and 18th in each round.

This time last year, Mathias Gronberg led by three strokes and went on to win by 10. In the English Open two months ago, Clarke led by five after 54 holes and was two strokes clear of England's John Bickerton at the finish.

That particular success and his current dominance are reflective of a marked maturity which has given Clarke the consistency of a genuine, world-class player. As he said with typical candour: "Some of us take a little longer to gain a bit of common-sense."

It prompted him to head for the practice ground and 90 minutes' work after Saturday's round - "I wanted to try and keep what I'd found." And the result was to be seen in his solid application over the early holes yesterday, when he might easily have experienced a reaction to his second round exploits.

Granted, there was a three-putt bogey at the sixth and a rather pedestrian par at the long seventh after he had got close to the green in two. But from the eighth, he covered the remaining 11 holes in five under par.

It was ironic that a nine-iron approach should have finished only three feet from the pin at the eighth: had the same club delivered such an outcome 24 hours previously, he would have been set fair for an historic 59. In the event, he went on to sink putts of 10 feet, 15 feet and 15 feet for birdies at the 11th, 12th and 14th.

Every aspect of Clarke's game was impressive. Down the 447-yard 15th, he hit a huge drive of 340 yards, and another big one at the 18th saw him run out of fairway. That was where his lately-acquired maturity was seen to best effect.

Facing a treacherous carry along the water's edge towards the distant green, he toyed with the notion of hitting a five-wood, but his caddie, Billy Foster, advised otherwise. And he listened. The five-wood went back into the bag and a six-iron was hit safely into the front bunker. From there, Clarke played an exemplary recovery which burned the hole before finishing four feet past, and he sank the putt for a closing birdie.

Over the last two rounds, Clarke has had a total of 52 putts (25 and 27), compared with 69 from Montgomerie. And on difficult greens this can be attributed in no small measure to a wonderfully positive approach with the blade, whereby the ball is stroked towards the cup with clear conviction.

O'Malley broke par only three times in yesterday's round, but in the absence of any slip it was enough to make him the leading challenger. A 20-footer found the target for a birdie at the 12th, and he holed a huge effort of 45 feet at the 15th, before finishing with a 30-footer.

"The scoring is good because firm fairways are producing a lot of run on the ball, with the result that we're hitting a lot of short irons," he said.

Though the 34-year-old is an admirably consistent performer, it may be significant that the last of his two European victories was in the Benson and Hedges in 1995.

But the Australian is clearly a fighter. And Westwood hasn't given up the chase. "At seven behind, I'd rather be playing with Darren tomorrow, but if I can get off to a good start and put some pressure on, you'd never know what might happen," he said. "It's easy to make four birdies to somebody's three bogeys out there."

After three days of glorious sunshine, perhaps the greatest disappointment has been the performance of Sergio Garcia, who slipped right down the order after a 73 which included bogeys at the 14th and 15th. Perhaps the fall-out from Carnoustie was more significant than we imagined.

Meanwhile, a second triumph in eight weeks beckons Clarke. And given his current mood, it's hard to see him fail.