Fisher takes control in Portugal

The Portugal Masters looks as if it might develop into an England v South Africa battle on the weekend the country’s two rugby teams fight it out.

Ross Fisher, the 26-year-old from Ascot who won his first European Tour title in August, took over at the top by going to the turn in 32 at the Victoria Club in Vilamoura.

Fellow Englishmen Steve Webster and Sam Walker were in the hunt as well and so was Charl Schwartzel, the 23-year-old Spanish Open champion from Johannesburg.

Fisher stood 16 under par with nine holes of his third round to play, one ahead of Webster and Ryder Cup Swede Robert Karlsson, while Walker and Schwartzel were tied for fourth with Spaniard Alvaro Quiros and overnight leader Daniel Vancsik, of Argentina.

Fisher had birdies on the first, third, sixth and seventh, while Walker had four birdies himself on the front nine and Webster three as the low scoring continued.

Vancsik, however, saw his two-stroke halfway lead disappear when he could pick up only one shot in his first seven holes and then bogeyed the short eighth.

Earlier, Justin Rose did his chances of winning the Order of Merit no harm at all with a 66 to climb to 11 under.

The 27-year-old, who needs to finish first or second tomorrow to go top of the money list with one more event to come, started the week with a recurrence of back trouble.

He has also suffered foot blisters during the tournament and for his second round 70 wore trainers.

“I just looked like a fool,” he said. “I didn’t anticipate getting the golf shoes back on today, but I’m bandaged up, tried them on and it felt OK. It was nice to be back in them.”

He grabbed birdies on the first, fourth, seventh, 12th, 14th and long 17th, where his five-wood approach carried the lake by just a few feet.

“It’s been a funny week and I feel like I’m falling apart, but I’m just getting on with business and I think 66 is the worst I could have shot.

“I felt like it could have been 10 better, but it’s a step in the right direction. My back was OK until the 14th and then it started really hurting me.

“But I’m trying not to think about it and I’m looking forward to the end of the year more than anything else really I can address all these things.

“I was playing through the pain barrier a little bit, but it is actually a little bit of ’beware the injured golfer’ because it is making me swing a lot smoother and hit the ball a lot better.

“It is just more of a mental thing with it nagging away at me, but listen, I’m done talking about it – it is what it is, we all know the story and I just have to get myself fit.”

It was not a good day, though, for 18-year-old Rory McIlroy, who closed with a triple bogey seven for a 73 and three under aggregate.

The Northern Ireland youngster, third and fourth the last two weeks in his second and third professional events, went in the water for his par on the 589-yard 17th and he put two more balls in the lake down the last.

Having resumed in a tie for 53rd spot McIlroy dropped to joint 69th.