Campbell fights back

Michael Campbell breathed some new life into his challenge to Colin Montgomerie for the European Order of Merit title at Valderrama today.

Starting the day five strokes behind the Scot, who leads him by nearly £105,000, Campbell had four birdies and two bogeys in a front nine 33 to move to one under par in the season-ending Volvo Masters.

Campbell needs to finish in the top five on Sunday just to have a chance of becoming number one for the first time and denying Montgomerie a remarkable eighth crown.

Montgomerie was joint overnight leader with defending champion Ian Poulter and they were last out on a day of showers at the Spanish venue.

Campbell resumed in 23rd spot but improved to ninth by picking up shots at the second, third, eighth and ninth.

If he had not bogeyed the sixth and seventh he would have been in a tie for third with Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia and Jose Maria Olazabal.

Swede Henrik Stenson, already pushing hard for a Ryder Cup debut next year, birdied the first to go to two under and joint sixth, while Ulsterman Graeme McDowell, doubtful before the start because of injury, birdied three of the first four holes to be on the same mark, but then bogeyed the same two holes as Campbell.

Darren Clarke was destined to go through the tour campaign without a win for the second year running when he finished bogey, double bogey for a round of 75 and nine over total of 151.

That was nowhere near last place, however, as Italian Emanuele Canonica could knock only three strokes off his opening 79 and so was 19 over – eight worse than English rookie Richard Finch.

Campbell ran up a six on the long 11th and remained level par with three to play, while Montgomerie began by almost holing a wedge for eagle again.

His pitch to the first spun back and finished less than six inches left of the cup for the easiest of birdies.

Poulter replied with a nine-footer on the next, but Montgomerie repeated his first round start by making another two at the third, this time from 12 feet.

They were six and five under respectyively, while Garcia also birdied the third to be four under.

However, Donald ran up a double-bogey six on the second. After pushing his drive he tried to hit a low runner through the trees, but struck a trunk and shot right into a drainage ditch.

He could have taken a drop, but it would have been in bushes, so he played out short of the green, chipped on and two-putted to drop back to one under.

Lee Westwood produced the best front nine, a three-under 32 that lifted him to joint fourth on three under.