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Bennett one clear of Langer

England's Warren Bennett birdied the final hole Saturday to move into the lead at 11-under-par 202 through three rounds of the Dutch Open. He carded a second successive round of four-under 67 to finish one shot ahead of Bernhard Langer, who was bogey-free in posting his second 67 in as many days.

Barry Lane had the lead at 11-under but double-bogeyed the par-four 18th for a 66. The 41-year-old Englishman stands at nine-under 204, tied for third place with South African Darren Fichardt (70) and New Zealand's Greg Turner (71).

Padraig Harrington of Ireland collected an eagle, a birdie and three bogeys in an up-and-down round of even-par 71. He will begin Sunday's final round alongside Scotland's Raymond Russell (69) at minus-eight.

After a bogey at the fifth, Bennett rang up five birdies over a span of seven holes from the ninth to assume the lead at 11-under par. He bogeyed the 17th to return to 10-under with Langer and Fichardt, but regained a one-shot advantage by rolling in a 25-foot birdie putt at the last.

The 29-year-old Bennett is grateful to be in contention to win his second European Tour title after missing much of the 2000 season with a lingering neck injury.

"I was going to give the game up," said Bennett, who captured the Scottish PGA Championship in 1999 but made only six starts last year. "I had no interest in golf. A long-term injury can play on your mind and the neck problem had been around for a few years."

Bennett received a special medical exemption from the European Tour this year and has made the most of the opportunity. He has a pair of top-10 finishes in 2001, including a runner-up showing at the Singapore Masters in February.

Langer is enjoying an amazing season on both sides of the Atlantic. The 43- year-old German has globe-trotted his way to a total of seven top-10s, among them a tie for sixth at the Masters and a tie for third at the British Open. He is currently ranked 14th on both the European Order of Merit and the PGA Tour money list.

One of the things on Langer's mind now is earning enough points to qualify for September's Ryder Cup matches at the Belfry.

"I need some good finishes to make sure I get into the Ryder Cup and the NEC Invitational and a bunch of other things, so it’s nice to be in a position to do that," said Langer, the Dutch Open winner in 1984 and '92. "Hopefully I can have another good day tomorrow."

Fichardt, who followed a victory in the South African Tour Championship with his breakthrough European Tour win at the rain-shortened Sao Paulo Brazilian Open in March, had a share of the top spot Saturday after holing his approach from the light rough for eagle at the par-four 14th. However, he suffered a bogey at 18 to finish two shots off the pace.

Spain's Tomas Jesus Munoz fired a career-low 65 -- the best round of the day -- to vault from a tie for 59th into joint eighth place with Dean Robertson (72) of Scotland at seven-under.

In a group of five players rounding out the current top-10 was overnight leader Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina, who struggled to a Saturday 75, 10 strokes worse than his second-round score.

Defending champion Stephen Leaney, who also won the Dutch Open in 1998, is knotted in 15th place at minus-five.

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