Garcia marches on

Sergio Garcia extended his lead to three shots on the third day of the Dunlop Phoenix event on Kyushu Island.

The Spaniard leads from fellow Ryder Cup team-mate Thomas Bjorn after a four-under-par 67 took him to 15 under for the tournament.

Bjorn shot a 69 but will be ruing two bogeys in this last three holes which would have kept the pressure on Garcia, although with high scores proliferating all week a three-shot deficit is no barrier to him winning tomorrow.

Garcia dropped a shot on the 435-yard second but picked up two at the fifth and seventh and these were followed by back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12.

Another bogey at 14 was then followed by birdies on the 16th and 18th.

Bjorn, runner up in The Open at Royal St George’s in the summer, matched Garcia’s two birdies and one bogey over the front nine but was slightly more erratic coming home as he picked up shots on the 10th, 13th and 15th but bogeyed the 13th and the 16th.

Lee Westwood moved into a tie for 11th place with a three-under-par round of 68.

The English golfer had three birdies on the front nine, although a bogey at the 521-yard seventh lessened their impact.

However, he went to three under for the round with another birdie at 419-yard par four 14th and although he dropped a shot at the short 17th he immediately clawed it back on the par-five last.

South Africa’s Trevor Immelman, a World Cup winner for South Africa at Kiawah Island last weekend, shot a par round of 71 to remain at two under for the tournament.

It was something of a mixed bag for Immelman as two birdies in the first four holes promised much but a dropped shot at the ninth was followed by a double-bogey six at the 455-yard 15th and only a birdie at the last salvaged a level-par round.

Hank Kuehne, the 1998 US Amateur champion, shot himself back into contention with seven-under-par round of 64 – the best of the day.

The American held the joint lead on five under after the opening day but a disastrous 74 yesterday appeared to have put him out of the running.

But three birdies on the front nine were bettered after the turn as he picked up shots at 13th and 15th before an eagle three on the 560-yard last put him back in the running.