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Coltart pulls three shots clear

Andrew Coltart pushed three shots clear of the field with a 69 in Saturday's third round of the Great North Open at De Vere Slaley Hall. The 31-year-old from Scotland stands atop the leaderboard with a 54-hole total of 11-under-par 205.

Bradley Dredge of Wales, the overnight leader with Coltart, shot an even-par 72 to remain at eight-under. He is tied for second with England's Jamie Spence, who mixed six birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey to come up with a

two-under 70.

Coltart found himself alone in the lead when playing partner Dredge bogeyed the second hole to slip to seven-under. Dredge struck back at the par-five fourth, where he knocked a long-iron approach to 15 feet and rolled in the putt for an eagle.

Coltart, who managed to keep pace with a two-putt birdie at the fourth, regained the advantage by birdieing the fifth. He extended his lead to two strokes with a 10-foot birdie at the seventh and went out in 33.

After reaching 12-under on the strength of a birdie at No. 11, Coltart dropped a shot at the 15th -- just his fourth bogey of the week -- to finish at three- under par for the day.

"There are a lot of guys capable of shooting great scores but I would be disappointed not to win, that's only natural," said Coltart, who is 18 holes away from his second European Tour title. "I have a good chance and if I can keep doing the job I'm doing it's going to make it difficult for someone else."

Coltart, a two-time winner of the Australian PGA Championship, captured his first European Tour victory at the 1998 Qatar Masters. He earned a place on Europe's 1999 Ryder Cup squad as a captain's pick and made his debut in the Sunday singles, losing to Tiger Woods 3 & 2.

Dredge, in the hunt for his first win, completely offset the earlier eagle with his second bogey of the round at 15.

"I was disappointed as I didn't putt well, didn't attack the hole," said Dredge. "I was happy with my ball striking and will focus on attacking the hole on Sunday."

First-round leader Daren Lee shot 69 to join fellow Englishmen Andrew Beal and Paul Casey, and Australians Scott Gardiner and Lucas Parsons at minus-seven.

Scotland's Stephen Gallacher and Belgium's Nicolas Vanhootegem are deadlocked in ninth place at six-under 210, while Aussie Brett Rumford posted Saturday's best round of six-under 66 for share of five-under par.

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