Ernie Els stayed on course for his fifth title of the year today, firing a four-under-par 67 to forge five clear of the field in the Scottish Open third round.
The British Open champion, following opening scores of 64 and 67, mixed five birdies with a bogey in calm but overcast conditions at par-71 Loch Lomond, finishing at 15-under 198.
Darren Clarke leads the chase after he shot a flawless round of 64 to revive his chances for final round push for the title.
Clarke had picked up four birdies to be out in 32 and seven under, alongside Ian Poulter who recovered from a bogey on the first with four birdies in his next six holes.
Birdies on the 14th, 15th and 18th topped off a fine round from the Ulsterman as his putting seemed to be finally doing justice to some breathtaking approach play.
Peter O'Malley also gave himself a chance of a second Open title with a brilliant third-round 62.
O'Malley carded nine birdies to jump from a share of 44th place overnight to second place, three shots behind leader Ernie Els who was just beginning his round.
It equalled Retief Goosen's course record from 1997 but will not count for record purposes due to the preferred lies in operation because of the wet conditions.
It was also O'Malley's second 62 in the Scottish Open, his other coming in the final round at Gleneagles in 1992 when he famously played the last five holes in seven under par to pip Colin Montgomerie to the title.
The 38-year-old Australian employed his new belly-putter to great effect to fire four birdies in a row from the second, and raced home in 30 with five more to equal the lowest round of his career.
"I played well in France recently so I felt the form was pretty good and I am very much a confidence player," said O'Malley, who had rounds of 67 and 76 on the first two days.
"If things go well I ride that wave and yesterday I got a bit negative after a bad start. If the vibes are there I ride on them and I holed a couple of good putts early on today.
"That's the key round this course. I had 24 putts on Thursday, 33 yesterday and 25 today. I've been using the belly-putter for five or six weeks but used this one for the first time this week because it's a bit heavier."
O'Malley was not too concerned that his score would not be in the record books, and admitted: "You could not play without preferred lies, there is too much mud on the ball.
"It would make a difference and the only reason we didn't play preferred lies on Thursday was because they had already started the round before we had the rain and four-hour delay.
Fellow Australian Nick O'Hern had also taken advantage of a soft course and no rain falling for the first time this week to card a 65 and improve to four under, but Phil Mickelson faded after a flying start and could only manage a 70.
Mickelson birdied the second, third and fourth and after a bogey on the fifth hit back with another birdie on the sixth, but then dropped three more shots before a birdie on the last left him one over for the tournament.
"The course played much easier today with the wind dying down," said the left-hander. "There are a lot of low scores out there and I thought I could get with the start I had but I made a few mistakes.
"There is not one area of the game I'm really concerned about but all areas have been inconsistent."
Meanwhile Gary Murphy shot a three under par 68 for the tournament to leave himself in touch with the leaders on six under par.
While Clarke's fellow Ulsterman Graeme McDowell is one over par after he followed his opening two rounds of 71 with a 72 after three bogies on the back nine overturned two birdies from the front.
A 67 from Paul McGinley got the Dubliner back on the right side of par, on two under, after he had shot a 73 and 71 in the first and second rounds respectively.