Donald moves into Ryder Cup contention

Luke Donald was today edging towards a first European Tour victory in the Scandinavian Masters – and with it a possible Ryder Cup wild card.

Donald carded a course record 65 yesterday for a 10-under-par halfway total and one-shot lead over unknown Swede Wilhelm Schauman going into today’s third round.

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.

But Donald simply responded with two birdies of his own on the seventh and ninth to be out in 33, and two subsequent pars left him on 11 under, three ahead of Hanson who had picked up another shot on the 12th.

Donald, who is based in Chicago and plays primarily on the USPGA Tour, 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 the 26-year-old 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.

Meanwhile Colin Montgomerie’s challenge had come to a grinding halt with consecutive bogeys on the back nine, the Scot dropping back to five under par.

The 41-year-old had given himself an outside chance of a fourth Scandinavian Masters title with four birdies in the last five holes of his second round 68, but after going to the turn in 35 and picking up shots at the 11th and 12th today, bogeyed 14 and 15 to drop out of contention.

Nick Faldo bogeyed the 17th for a 69 for a four under total but the 47-year-old was still happy with his efforts.

Long-time caddy Fanny Sunesson was given the day off to attend her brother’s wedding and Faldo added: “It worked out well. I need to do more on the golf course, I have a tendency to fall asleep so it was good to have to concentrate and do my own yardages.”

The six-time major winner still harbours faint hopes of adding to his record total of 11 Ryder Cup appearances but admitted he would have to win the USPGA championship in a fortnight’s time to have a chance.