Golf: Langer set to pounce

COLIN MONTGOMERIE, the joint leader with Phillip Price after three rounds, believes that Bernhard Langer will be the big threat at the Volvo German Open in Dusseldorf today. Montgomerie and Price, the Welshman, are level on 199, 17 under par, with Ross McFarlane one shot off the pace, while Langer - 37 yesterday - and the Frenchman Thomas Levet are on 202.

'I know Phillip Price and Ross McFarlane are playing well,' said Montgomerie after shooting a third-round 66. 'But the big danger is Langer.

'His record in Germany is unbelievable. He shot 65 today and that's nice on your birthday. I wish him well, but he's got to beat me by four tomorrow, so if I shoot 69 that should be sufficient. But you never know.'

Montgomerie, the European No 1, began and finished yesterday's round with a bogey five. 'I made two mistakes but had six birdies and an eagle in between and I'm confident I can shoot another good round tomorrow,' he said.

Price, however, must be kicking himself for not leading at the end of the day. He was three shots clear of the field and five ahead of Montgomerie after 11 holes and was threatening the course record of 63. But he lost all five shots to the big Scot in the next three holes, because while Price went birdie, bogey, bogey, Montgomerie eagled the 12th and birdied the 13th and 14th.

Then Montgomerie, with yet another birdie at the 16th, took the outright lead, but his bogey at the last allowed Price, who parred the 18th, to draw level again. Price, who went out in 31, finished with a 67, the same score as McFarlane. Langer's 65, which included five birdies and an eagle three at the 12th, equalled the lowest score of the day, set earlier by the Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez, but the German superstar was slightly disappointed.

'I didn't miss a green, but I would have expected to have been a little closer to the leaders after a 65,' he said. 'Now I think I will have to shoot another 65 tomorrow to stand a chance of winning.'