Golf:The sun doesn't just get to mad dogs and Englishmen. As the BMW PGA Championship reached its three-quarter point in weather that probably made him familiar with his homeland, course re-designer Ernie Els let loose at a set-up – bone hard fairways and bumpy, unreceptive greens – that caused many a hardship for players in pursuit of the European Tour's flagship title.

Not everyone, though, suffered. Luke Donald, poised to regain the world number one spot from Rory McIlroy, consummately rolled in a birdie on the 18th hole for a best-of-the-day-equalling 69 for 205, 11-under-par, that gave him a two stroke lead over fellow-Englishman Justin Rose heading into a Sunday duel that should have traffic backed up to the M25.

Peter Lawrie, too, remained very much in the hunt. The Dubliner shot a third round 72 for 209 which left him alone in third place, two shots ahead of a quartet that included Els in fourth, and although still suffering from a lingering cough that has refused to budge from his system in recent weeks, he maintained that he would continue with a gameplan that has put him in line for the biggest payday of his career.

“I’ve a slight chance, but Luke is playing nice golf and putting well. So, it will take something special to catch him. But there’s a lot to play for, a pot of gold there and you want to get your majority share of it. You know, the way I’m playing, it’s disappointing to walk off with a 72,” said Lawrie, who birdied the fourth, eighth and 10th holes to move atop the leaderboard where he was joined by Donald.

Coming down the stretch, however, it was Donald – with birdies at the 12th, 13th and 18th and a lone bogey, his only one of the round, at the 15th where his tee shot found a drain – who moved clear.

Lawrie expanded: “I was playing nicely coming into the tournament and I’ve just carried it over. I’ve struck the ball lovely and that’s the way I feel I should play week-in and week-out. I don’t, but I should. I want to shoot a low number (on Sunday) and give Luke a run for his money.”

The Irishman gently tapped his putter coming off the 18th green, demonstrating only a mild irritation with that part of his game. Much of the trouble, as virtually every player found out, was to do with rock hard and unreceptive greens that saw balls bobble time and time again.

Nobody was more irritated than Els himself, who – cast as re-designer of the West Course’s greens and a player in contention – showed his ire post-round with a tirade against the course set-up. “I’ve asked them to put water on the bloody greens and then I spoke to JP (John Paramor) coming up the 15th and he said we did water it last night.  I said, ‘you have to triple that.  You have a damn 30mph easterly breeze blowing so put water on the greens’. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out,” said Els.

“I have been talking to the Tour and the greens staff since I landed here on Monday just to ‘please’ keep the moisture in the golf course.  All they’ve said to me is ‘Yes, Yes, Yes , you just concentrate on playing’ is the reply I get all the time. I spoke to them last night and I spoke to them again this morning but it is like talking to this wall behind me. I am fed up with this. It is a difficult but fair golf course but just set it up properly and we will have a championship,” added the South African.

Indeed, Els – who shot a 70 that enabled him to jump 21 places up the leaderboard to a share of fourth heading into the final round – got a close-up view of the problems experienced by players on the rock hard greens in stiff, gusting winds as his playing companion Bernd Weisberger shot an 83.

There were no such problems for Donald, who again showed his particular liking for the West Course in defence of his title. One of just three players to break 70 – Rose and Ian Poulter were the others – Donald said: “I think the tougher the better. the good players that can stay patient are always going to rise to the top. . . but physically and mentally it was tough out there and it’s going to be another grind (in the final round).

David Higgins, playing off his position on the Irish PGA Region order of merit, had two double bogeys in his third round of 74 for 214 but moved up four places to tied-13th. A top-10 finish would earn him a place in the field for next week’s Wales Open at Celtic Manor.