Ireland's Padraig Harrington can take a huge step towards becoming European number one in the final day of the Dunhill Links Championship on Sunday.
Harrington began the week more than half a million pounds behind Retief Goosen and Ernie Els at the top of the Order of Merit.
But the Dubliner goes into the final round over the Old Course at St Andrews sharing the lead with Argentinian Eduardo Romero and in prime position to claim the Stg500,000 first prize.
Harrington carded a 68 on the Old Course today for a three round total of 200, 16 under par, while Romero went one better with a 67.
The duo were three clear of the chasing pack headed by Scotland's Sandy Lyle and Spain's Ignacio Garrido, with Indian professional Jyoti Randhawa a shot further back on his comeback from a motorcycle accident earlier this year.
Harrington began the day with a one-shot lead after successive rounds of 66 at Carnoustie and Kingsbarns and he soon built it to three strokes with three birdies in his first seven holes.
But Romero struck back after a slow start which saw the Scottish Open champion par the first five holes before unleashing a string of six birdies over the next nine to catch Harrington.
Nick Faldo had his best round of the week, a 66 at Kingsbarns to get to seven under, a good achievement given his opening 75 at St Andrews on Thursday.
The field is cut to the top 60 players and ties after the third round and most of the nine Ryder Cup players looked like making it, the exception being Pierre Fulke of Sweden, who was mired down in 135th position late in his round.
PA