Faldo moves into contention with 65

Nick Faldo shot a sensational seven-under-par 65 in the third round of the Heineken Classic to surge into contention for his first title in nearly six years.

The six-time Major champion's last victory came at the Nissan Open in 1997 and he began the day eight shots off the pace after dropping three in his last four holes at Royal Melbourne yesterday.

He hit the practice ground straight after that disappointing 71 and it paid dividends as the 45-year-old enjoyed a bumper round to post a clubhouse lead at 11 under par.

Faldo's approach on the par-four first rolled to within four feet and he sank the short putt for an opening birdie.

He followed that up with birdies on the second and third before completing the outward nine with a 40-foot putt to land an eagle that fired his belief that he could hold the back nine together.

"I saw Ernie (Els) having a good round and then I had the eagle on nine and I thought 'I'm having a good round here'," he said.

"I came out with good intentions. I worked on things last night and that was key. I made some rules, obeyed them and tried to be really aggressive.

"I played low wind shots and it came off. I did a little bit of putting and hit a few balls because I screwed up yesterday afternoon.

"If I pursued the next 18 holes with the same good thought and good decision-making that would do me for the rest of my career. I couldn't do any better than I did today."

His round was completed with a steady back nine, successfully negotiating the 14th and 15th which he had found tricky and picking up birdies on the 10th and 16th.

Faldo was referring to Els' own stunning third-round 66 as the South African finally found his rhythm to make a charge up the leaderboard.

The world number two came into the tournament on the back of two wins and a second place, but had to battle to reach halfway on just two under, 10 off the lead.

Els felt he might have overstretched himself in playing four consecutive events but all those fears seemed unjustified as the South African leapt into a tie for fourth place on eight under for the tournament.

Els was on course for a faultless round including seven birdies, but dropped a shot on the last to leave him with a 54-hole clubhouse total of 208.

"I went out this morning, played my shots and made some good putts," he said.

"The greens are perfect, it forces you to hit solid shots into greens. I'm disappointed (with the bogey on 18). I was trying to get it in really close and finish with a birdie. It cost me a shot and it's not nice to finish with a bogey."

Els' 66 was bettered by Englishman Brian Davis, who also blemished a potentially faultless round on the 18th to finish with a seven-under 65.

Davis' run to the last included four consecutive birdies from the 10th to the 13th, having shot four under on his outward nine.

His intention was to attack the holes and risk falling on his face, but the policy paid off.

"Going out on level par you are shooting at every flag," he said. "You are either going to shoot a low one or not today. I got off to a good start which is the key round here.

"It's going OK this week. I'm pretty pleased."

He finished on seven under for the tournament, tied with Australian Richard Green and Stephen Scahill of New Zealand who both shot 69s.

Halfway leader Paul Casey, who teed off on 12 under, was struggling for consistency, making two birdies but dropping three shots on his outward nine, leaving Faldo's 11 under briefly heading the leaderboard.

But Casey had righted the ship by the 12th to regain his two-shot lead and move to 13 under.

Casey was playing with fellow Englishman David Lynn, who began in second on 10 under and was shooting a steady round, the only fluctuations being a birdie on two and a bogey on the 11th.

Another Englishman, Ian Poulter, who carded the best round of this year's championship yesterday with a 64, eagled the second and birdied the 10th and had moved to nine under with Peter Lonard.

Greg Norman finished with a three-under 69, his second in two days, to move to five under for the tournament but Scotland's Paul Lawrie, another former Open champion, struggled to finish on two over after a 74 that included five dropped shots

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