Resurgent Lawrie rides out the storm

Paul Lawrie and Paul McGinley remained in a share of the lead when the third round of the Dunhill Links Championship was finally completed yesterday afternoon. Ernie Els was a stroke behind but with the possibility, given another bad forecast for today, that the fourth round might be washed out, the Scot and the Irishman could end up in a sudden-death play-off for the £551,000 first prize.

At the Wales Open at Celtic Manor in August, McGinley triumphed in a seven-hole play-off against Lawrie, who had not won since his Open triumph of 1999, and Daren Lee, after the tournament had been cut to 36 holes by torrential rain.

It was another foul day on the Fife coast yesterday and with further early delays, there became no hope of starting the final round at the Old Course in the afternoon as had been hoped, since everyone had to complete a round on each course before the 54-hole could be made. Lawrie and McGinley, both 14 under, could not have had more contrasting rounds on more contrasting courses in the third round.

Lawrie, who had a 71 on his return to the scene of his Open victory at Carnoustie on Thursday, went round in 63 on the Old Course. It is the lowest score since the links was lengthened a couple of years ago but one shot off Curtis Strange's 62 in 1987 in the now-defunct Dunhill Cup. The 32-year-old had birdied eight of the 12 holes he played on Saturday and added two more at the 14th and 15th before three-putting the 17th for his only bogey of the round.

This, though, was a rare lapse on the greens. In fact, his putter had been positively brilliant with six of his birdie-putts coming from between 10 and 20 feet, and two more from 45 and 55 feet. His 15-footer at the last for a 62 just slipped by on the left-hand side.

"It was nice to hole some putts for a change," Lawrie said. "I have been playing great tee-to-green all year, I could not have played much better, but the putting has been frustrating." When Lawrie finished, McGinley still had five holes to play at Carnoustie, a far harder proposition than the Old Course. He had parred the first 11 holes on Saturday, birdied the par-five 12th on the resumption and then held his score coming home for a battling 71.

"It was as tough as you can play," said McGinley, who had a 64 at St Andrews on Friday. "I was fortunate for the first two days to get pretty decent conditions at Kingsbarns and St Andrews. Part of the challenge is to take advantage then and hold on when things are against you."

A few professionals and amateurs were wheeled into the interview room to describe how much they have enjoyed the format. That was never in doubt but the success of an event depends on other things too, such as spectator interest. The competitors at the Oxford and Cambridge President's Putter have a cracking time at Rye in January but don't claim their event is "the most prestigious of the year after the Open".

"Potentially, this tournament over the next few years can become the best pro-am in the world," said Colin Montgomerie. The official transcript omitted the word "potentially" and altered "can" to "will". After all, in the world of Johann Rupert, the tournament's godfather from South Africa, there is no room for vacillation. No praise can be enough, however, for the rules officials and staging crews who have worked tirelessly to carry out Rupert's ambitious plans while knowing all along the tournament could run into horrendous weather conditions.

*Argentina's Jose Coceres shot an 64 on Saturday to take a three-shot lead over Davis Love III after three rounds at the National Car Rental Golf Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Tiger Woods was six shots off the lead.

DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP (St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns) Leading third-round scores (GB or Irl unless stated): 202 P Lawrie 71 68 63; P McGinley 67 64 71. 203 E Els (SA) 65 70 68. 204 D Howell 67 68 69. 205 P Casey 69 70 66. 206 P Harrington 67 67 72; P O'Malley (Aus) 71 67 68. 207 R Goosen (SA) 69 69 69; B Rumford (Aus) 72 67 68. 208 T Bjorn (Den) 70 67 71; C Montgomerie 71 68 69; J Hugo (SA) 68 70 70; J Donaldson 68 66 74; J Moseley (Aus) 67 70 71; J Bickerton 69 70 69. 209 P Sjoland (Swe) 71 66 72; N Dougherty 68 68 73; MA Jimenez (Sp) 70 70 69; L Parsons (Aus) 72 68 69; R Gonzalez (Arg) 67 70 72; D Clarke 72 67 70; M Pilkington 69 69 71; G Owen 70 67 72; B Quigley (US) 68 69 72; I Garbutt 72 69 68; D Lynn 71 69 69; E Canonica (It) 66 74 69; D Lee 68 70 71; M Gronberg (Swe) 68 70 71.