Els stays in command

Ernie Els continued his inexorable march to victory at the Johnnie Walker Classic with an eight-under-par third round of 64 to set the lowest 54-hole aggregate ever recorded on the European Tour.

The South African, chasing his fifth win in six tournaments, has led the field from day one and his 23-under-par total of 193 was nine shots better than Craig Kamps and Jean-Francois Remesey.

It beat the 27-year-old record of 194 set by Vicente Fernandez in the Benson & Hedges Festival in 1975.

The second-placed pair finished on 14 under, one ahead of defending champion Retief Goosen, Australians Andre Stolz and Stephen Leaney plus New Zealander David Smail.

At this point last year, Goosen held a 13-shot lead after equalling the course record with a nine-under-par round of 63, a feat achieved this year by Craig Spence.

The 28-year-old Australian also levelled the European Tour record for eight consecutive birdies as he leapt from three-under to finish the day in eighth place on minus 12.

Despite that incredible display, Spence still remained an amazing 11 shots off the lead as Els carried on regardless.

Champion back in 1997, when the tournament was held at Hope Island in Queensland, Els had not looked comfortable on the front nine in his opening two rounds.

He led each day based on stunning 29s on the inward stretch, but looked right at home today, beginning with three birdies and an eagle inside his opening seven holes.

The South African dropped his first shot on the back nine on 15, but birdies on 11, 13, 14 and 17 shot him onto 23-under.

Els, who tends to use the word ’nice’ when he really means ’excellent’, said: “I had a nice day again today.

“It is hard to compare rounds but there was no breeze out there and you could really go out and be quite aggressive.

“I saw other guys making moves and felt I would play aggressively. It felt good on the range this morning.

“I had a nice start and obviously the eagle on three got things right on track. I kept it going and had a nice, enjoyable day.”

Only seven players finished sub-par here last year, but the rough has been cut back and the greens are slower which has meant a day of bumper scoring.

Spence had an eight foot putt to break the birdie record first set in 1985 by Seve Ballesteros and Ian Woosnam, but his pin-high putt slid wide and finished a foot past the hole.

Collated scores after third round in the Johnnie Walker Classic at Lake Karrinyup CC, Perth (Par 72, Gbr & Irl unless stated):

193 Ernie Els (Rsa) 64 65 64

202 Craig Kamps (Rsa) 71 67 64, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 68 67 67

203 David Smail (Nzl) 68 71 64, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 72 65 66, Andre Stolz (Aus) 68 68 67, Stephen Leaney (Aus) 68 67 68

204 Craig Spence (Aus) 73 68 63

205 Nathan Green (Aus) 73 68 64, Simon Yates 72 68 65, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 74 65 66, Michael Long (Nzl) 71 66 68, David Lynn 65 72 68, Robert Allenby (Aus) 69 64 72

206 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 71 66, Henrik Bjornstad (Nor) 69 71 66, Paul Mcginley 67 71 68, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 69 69 68, Justin Rose 68 69 69, Terry Price (Aus) 66 71 69

207 Bradley Hughes (Aus) 75 67 65, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 73 68 66, David Howell 71 69 67, Brett Rumford (Aus) 67 73 67, Greg Owen 69 64 74

208 Marcus Cain (Aus) 69 72 67, Paul Casey 71 70 67, Clay Devers (USA) 70 72 66, Scott Gardiner (Aus) 74 69 65, Chris Downes (Aus) 67 73 68, Paul Sheehan (Aus) 68 71 69, Jamie Donaldson 68 71 69

209 Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 70 71 68, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 68 74 67, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 68 74 67, Charlie Wi (Kor) 72 71 66, Craig Parry (Aus) 68 69 72

210 Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 70 72 68, Peter O’malley (Aus) 67 75 68, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 73 69 68, Tony Carolan (Aus) 72 70 68, Andrew Bonhomme (Aus) 71 70 69, James Kingston (Rsa) 72 69 69, Arjun Singh (Ind) 68 71 71

211 Marcus Norgren (Swe) 70 71 70, Steen Tinning (Den) 72 70 69, Peter Fowler (Aus) 70 73 68, Brian Davis 71 70 70, Raymond Russell 70 70 71, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 73 67 71, Santiago Luna (Spa) 70 69 72

212 Gary Evans 70 71 71, Andrew Tschudin (Aus) 70 72 70, Grant Dodd (Aus) 71 71 70, Alastair Forsyth 73 69 70, Kevin Na (Kor) 71 72 69, Richard Green (Aus) 71 69 72, Warren Bennett 71 68 73

213 Nick Faldo 68 74 71, Adam Crawford (Aus) 71 72 70, Ian Poulter 74 69 70, Andrew Pitts (USA) 74 69 70, Jonathan Lomas 73 70 70, Nick Dougherty 73 66 74, John Bickerton 70 68 75, Ian Woosnam 67 71 75

214 Mardan Mamat (Sin) 69 72 73, Mark Allen (Aus) 73 69 72, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 75 67 72, Nick O’hern (Aus) 74 68 72, Barry Lane 74 68 72, Michael Sim (am, Aus) 72 71 71, Matthew Ecob (Aus) 72 71 71, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 70 73 71, David Gilford 71 72 71, Anthony Wall 72 71 71, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 72 69 73

215 David Gleeson (Aus) 71 72 72

216 Eddie Lee (Nzl) 73 70 73, Edward Loar (USA) 72 68 76

217 Ted Oh (Kor) 71 72 74

218 Gary Simpson (Aus) 72 70 76