Clarke clear of the field

Darren Clarke takes a one-stroke lead into the final round of one of golf’s richest events today.

A third-round 66 full of adventure lifted the Irishman onto the nine-under-par mark of 201 after 54 holes of the €6m (€5.5m) NEC World Championship in Akron, Ohio.

Clarke, the only European to have captured one of the World Championship series, is one ahead of American Jonathan Kaye in the race for a first prize of $1,050,000 (€964,000).

But while Kaye may have only one US Tour victory to his name, as has third-placed Chris Riley, the two players sharing fourth spot on six under have 54 between them – Tiger Woods and Davis Love, first and second on the money list this season, first and third on the world rankings.

Woods, winner on his last three visits to Firestone, covered the last seven holes – holes which brought many a downfall – in three under par for a 67 that brought him right back into things. Love shot 68.

By then Open champion Ben Curtis was away getting married. In danger of having to put the 5pm ceremony back after opening with a 64, he followed that with a 76 and it was 3.20pm when he finished his third-round 72.

“I didn’t worry about it as much as I thought I would out there,” he said.

Asked whether he had thought about his final putt as his last one as a single man he smiled and replied: “No. Life won’t change – there will be a certificate and that’s it.”

Clarke, conqueror of Woods in the final of the Accenture World Match Play in California three years ago, two-putted the long second for birdie, bunkered his approach to the next and failed to get up and down, but then got his first taste of the lead when he sank further birdie putts of eight and 20 feet at the fifth and sixth.

After saving par from off the green at both the next two he was in real trouble at the 410-yard 10th, being forced to play down the adjoining 18th fairway after a wild drive.

When he hit his third into sand and came out nearly 25 feet past the flag a double bogey loomed.

But the Dungannon man made it and then sank putts of 10 and 18 feet, both for birdies, at the 11th and 13th.

A dropped shot – or even two – was on the cards again at the long 16th after another bad drive, but from just over the back of the green the 35-year-old holed out for par, having elected to use one of his woods for the chip. That brought a big smile.

Another came when he then pitched to a foot on the 400-yard 17th and took the outright lead again.

Els had promised to mount a real challenge when he opened birdie-eagle, but he fell away to a 71.

Ian Poulter and Colin Montgomerie ended the day on two under and Paul Casey on one under – and for all of them it was also a case of what might have been.

Casey, four over par after 16 holes of his first round, had climbed all the way to five under and only two off the lead when he had four successive bogeys.

His round began in spectacular fashion. He sank a 105-yard pitch for an eagle two at the first, chipped to four feet for a birdie on the second and saved par from 20 feet at the third. But he finished with a 71.

Montgomerie bogeyed the last for 70 – he failed to get up and down from sand - while Poulter needed to par the last two for a 65, but bogeyed them both.

“Oh my God, that was frustrating,” said Poulter.

“I’m right in amongst it for tomorrow and that was an absolute disgrace. I can’t really talk – it’s doing my head in.”

Montgomerie was less disgusted. “It’s very difficult because the greens are very firm now,” he stated.

“I was pleased to battle back after I bogeyed seven, eight and nine.”

Casey commented: “I’m not upset, just a little confused. I’m really left scratching my head.”

Earlier Bernhard Langer had come close to his best-ever score on the US Tour, but missed it by one after bogeying the 15th and 16th for a 65 and one under aggregate.

Nick Faldo, on the other hand, had one of his worst-ever scores, a 79 that sent him tumbling from one over to 10 over. It included a triple-bogey eight on the 16th.