Donald keeps Cup hopes alive

Luke Donald today continued to set the pace in the third round of the Scandinavian Masters.

Donald carded a course-record 65 on Friday for a 10-under-par halfway total and one-shot lead over unknown Swede Wilhelm Schauman.

That lead was swiftly tripled when Donald birdied the first and Schauman bogeyed, and when his playing partner dropped another shot at the next, Donald was suddenly four clear of the field.

The massive local crowds soon had something to cheer however when another Swede, Peter Hanson, rattled in a hat-trick of birdies from the third to improve to nine under, two behind Donald.

The 26-year-old from England, who is based in Chicago and plays primarily on the USPGA Tour, is chasing his first European Tour title and with it a possible place in the European Ryder Cup team.

Donald is currently outside the top 10 in the Ryder Cup world ranking list with only the top five to qualify automatically for the team to defend the trophy at Oakland Hills in September.

Even a win here on Sunday would only move him up to 10th in the standings, but he is a genuine contender for one of the two wild cards available to captain Bernhard Langer given his experience of playing in America and excellent Walker Cup record – he won seven of his eight matches in Britain and Ireland’s victories in 1999 and 2001.