Cabrera in pole position at Wentworth

A day of thrills and spills has left Argentina’s big-hitting Angel Cabrera holding a one-stroke lead going into the final round of the Volvo PGA championship at Wentworth.

With halfway leader Justin Rose opening the door by managing only a level par 72, Cabrera moved out in front thanks to a birdie-birdie-eagle run at the start to his back nine.

The 34-year-old known as “El Pato” – “The Duck” – shot a 68 for a 12 under par total of 204, while Rose fell into a share of second place with Scotland’s Scott Drummond, Swede Joakim Haeggman and South African Darren Fichardt.

The biggest surprise there is Drummond, ranked a lowly 435th in the world. On his 30th birthday the Devon-based player, never higher than 16th on the European tour and 186th on this season’s Order of Merit, had a 68.

And now he has a chance to join the legendary Arnold Palmer as the only men to win the European tour’s flagship event on his debut in it.

The biggest surprise was that Ernie Els, joint second after two rounds, fell back to seventh. And it threatened to be much worse.

The world number three, fives times the winner of the World Match Play title on the course and three times a runner-up in the PGA, bogeyed four of the first eight holes, but finished eagle-birdie for a level par 72 and nine under total.

Playing partner Darren Clarke had a real up and down time as well. He eagled the 12th and birdied two of the other par fives, but finished with a bogey six after hooking into a bush and being forced to take a penalty drop.

Needless to say, the Ulsterman was not best pleased, but with a 71 for 10 under and sixth place he is far from out of the hunt for a championship in which he has twice finished second.

Alongside Els is Nick Faldo after a 68 that was one of the best rounds of the day. At 46, Faldo is chasing his fifth victory in the event, but has not won anything since 1998 and came to the West Course on the back of missing three successive cuts – a first for him in a tour career going back to 1976.

Colin Montgomerie failed to make the move he was hoping for to boost his hopes of achieving the fifth place finish he needs to have a chance of earning a spot in next month’s US Open.

The Scot, round in 73 for three under, was then confronted by a Sunday tabloid reporter, whose opening gambit was to ask if he would be trying to have fun in the final round.

Montgomerie replied: “You’ve obviously not been divorced or had your wife’s picture in the papers. It can’t be fun right now.

“Wrong question. Start again.”

A month ago Montgomerie and his wife Eimear announced they were separating with a view to divorce. He has been a shadow of his former self ever since and last week in Germany had his worst finish – 128th – since his debut in 1987.

Rose had also been two clear after two days in the Masters last month and on that occasion collapsed to an 81.

Avoiding a repeat of that and keeping his title hopes alive gave him compensation for not holding on to top spot.

“It’s encouraging to be only one off the lead,” he said.

“It was frustrating. I hit it better than the first two days and it’s weird how this game works.

“It comes down to the putter and hopefully they will drop tomorrow. It’s best not to dwell on it right now and tell myself I am putting well. I hit a lot of good putts that didn’t go in.”

Drummond, who became a father on April 29, had two early bogeys but then a hat-trick of birdies around the turn and, despite the sudden attention on him as a result, he picked up further shots on the 13th and 18th.

The biggest cheque of the rookie’s career is around £14,000 on the “second division” Challenge Tour. Tomorrow the first prize is nearly £420,000.

Els, who pitched in from 60 yards on the 17th, said: “That finish saved me. I was nowhere. The disappointing thing was that it was there for the taking, but the good thing is that I am only three behind.”