Kenneth Ferrie opens five shot lead

Britain's Kenneth Ferrie grabbed the initiative at the windswept Dunhill Links Championship on Saturday as overnight leader Colin Montgomerie's chances of a first win in over 18 months receded.

While Ferrie played the buffeting conditions better to shoot a five-under-par 67 in the third round at St Andrews, Montgomerie stalled with a one-over-par 73 at the more exposed Kingsbarns course, falling five strokes off the lead.

Englishman Ferrie, a stroke behind Montgomerie overnight, collected seven birdies as he surged to 13-under-par 203, ahead of Montgomerie, Swede Henrik Stenson (65) and Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez (71).

Mastering the wind at St Andrews as well as Montgomerie did at the same venue the previous day in shooting a 65, Ferrie made the most of what fortune came his way on day three.

When a gust blew Ferrie's ball nearer the hole on the short 11th at St Andrews' Old Course, he made the six-foot birdie putt after being 20ft away.

However, when Montgomerie's ball was carried 20 feet down the green at Kingsbarns' short 15th, he missed a six-footer to save par, recording one of his four bogeys.

The destiny of an $800,000 first prize and 662,415 Ryder Cup points which could take a European winner to the top of the Ryder Cup table will be decided in the final round over the Old Course at St Andrews on Sunday.

Ferrie, who left Montgomerie in second place when winning the European Open in early July, was annoyed with three-putts at the last two holes which cost him a bogey on 17 and a birdie on the last.

"I had three three-putts and that's below the standards I've set myself and not good enough," said the Englishman.

"But the sort of windy conditions we've had suit my game, which is hitting fairways and greens.

"To win and get a big head start in the Ryder Cup would be brilliant."

A rueful Montgomerie, who has not won on the European Tour since last year's Singapore Masters, said: "I'll probably need better than my 65 to win now. It was a very difficult day.

"On the 15th green, if the ball had blown the other way it was in the ocean.

"I wasn't quite concentrating on what I was doing then and missed the putt."

Montgomerie is looking for a victory to move within $200,000 of European money list leader Michael Campbell in his quest to be European number one for a record eighth time.

Second or third place could still gain Montgomerie a ranking in the world's top 20, where he has not been since early 2003.

Stenson's round of 65 at Kingsbarns was the best return of the day.

203 Kenneth Ferrie 68 68 67

208 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 69 68 71, Colin Montgomerie 70 65 73, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 74 65

209 Pierre Fulke (Swe) 71 66 72

210 Paul Casey 68 70 72

211 Martin Doyle (Aus) 73 72 66, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 70 72 69, Richard Green (Aus) 70 71 70, Padraig Harrington 70 70 71, Lee Westwood 71 71 69

212 Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 70 73 69, Anders Hansen (Den) 69 71 72, Peter Gustafsson (Swe) 73 68 71, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 67 72 73, Scott Drummond 71 72 69, Darren Clarke 68 75 69

213 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 70 74 69, Gary Orr 72 71 70, Mark Foster 70 70 73, Titch Moore (Rsa) 72 68 73, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 68 75 70

214 Paul Broadhurst 70 71 73, Phillip Archer 70 73 71, David Carter 72 71 71, Roger Chapman 71 72 71, Bradley Dredge 68 73 73, Anthony Wall 69 72 73, Andrew Marshall 70 70 74, Miles Tunnicliff 71 71 72, Stephen Gallacher 74 73 67

215 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 69 74 72, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 74 65 76, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 70 69 75, Peter Hanson (Swe) 73 71 71, Warren Abery (Rsa) 69 71 75, Sam Little 73 71 71, James Kingston (Rsa) 70 75 70, Raymond Russell 73 70 72, Simon Dyson 69 73 73, Ignacio Garrido (Spa) 74 66 75, Alastair Forsyth 73 74 68, Rich Beem (USA) 67 73 75, Nick Dougherty 68 74 73, Johan Axgren (Swe) 73 70 72, Simon Khan 69 72 74

216 Richard Sterne (Rsa) 74 71 71, Barry Lane 72 70 74, Mark Murless (Rsa) 71 76 69, David Park 70 72 74, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 72 74 70, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 71 73 72, Brett Rumford (Aus) 68 70 78, Brian Davis 68 71 77, Ian Poulter 71 73 72, Mark Roe 70 74 72, Joakim Backstrom (Swe) 70 75 71

217 Markus Brier (Aut) 72 70 75, Eduardo Romero (Arg) 69 74 74, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 72 75, Andrew Coltart 70 76 71, David Howell 67 74 76, Paul McGinley 74 71 72, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 70 70 77

The following players missed the halfway cut:

218 Peter Baker 69 75 74, Jamie Donaldson 72 70 76, Santiago Luna (Spa) 71 76 71, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 74 72 72, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 73 76, Edward Loar (USA) 71 74 73, Martin Maritz (Rsa) 75 70 73

219 Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 72 76, David Lynn 73 73 73, Keith Horne (Rsa) 68 75 76, Mads Vibe-Hastrup (Den) 71 74 74, Richard Finch 74 70 75, John Bickerton 71 75 73, Damien McGrane 72 71 76, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 76 71, Steve Webster 73 69 77, Ian Woosnam 70 77 72, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 74 70 75

220 Marcel Siem (Ger) 72 73 75, Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano (Spa) 74 72 74, Steven O'Hara 73 76 71, Sven Struver (Ger) 75 70 75, Johan Skold (Swe) 73 76 71, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 75 74, Jonathan Lomas 72 71 77, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 76 72 72, Philip Golding 69 75 76, Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 70 71 79, Stephen Dodd 72 75 73, Amandeep Johl (Ind) 73 72 75, Stephen Scahill (Nzl) 73 74 73, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 72 77, Jose-Filipe Lima (Por) 71 75 74

221 Peter Senior (Aus) 73 73 75, Henrik Nystrom (Swe) 71 74 76, Graeme Storm 73 74 74, Gordon Brand Jnr 72 72 77, David Griffiths 70 75 76, Gregory Havret (Fra) 79 70 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 80 71, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 71 77 73, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 74 69 78, Matthew Richardson 74 74 73, Miguel Angel Martin (Spa) 72 72 77, Stuart Little 76 74 71, Gary Emerson 71 73 77, Gary Murphy 71 74 76, David Frost (Rsa) 76 74 71

222 Tony Johnstone (Zim) 74 74 74, Oliver Wilson 71 74 77, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 74 73 75, Des Terblanche (Rsa) 71 77 74, Graeme McDowell 69 74 79

223 Mattias Eliasson (Swe) 74 74 75, Sam Torrance 68 74 81, Matthew King 71 75 77, Sandy Lyle 73 75 75, Stuart Manley 72 77 74, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 71 75 77, Eric Ramsay 74 74 75, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 75 74 74, Mahal Pearce (Nzl) 72 76 75, Richard Bland 70 75 78

224 Marcus Fraser (Aus) 73 75 76, Garry Houston 73 80 71, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 72 78 74, Ian Garbutt 73 75 76, Costantino Rocca (Ita) 76 70 78, Rolf Muntz (Ned) 75 75 74, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 73 76 75, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 75 76 73, Simon Wakefield 70 77 77, Lee Slattery 75 72 77, David Bransdon (Aus) 74 77 73

225 Neil Cheetham 76 71 78, Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 75 76 74

226 Paul Lawrie 76 75 75, Marten Olander (Swe) 71 80 75, Fredrik Henge (Swe) 76 72 78

227 Paul Eales 75 77 75, Peter Fowler (Aus) 76 73 78, Simon Yates 72 78 77, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 77 73 77

228 Andrew Oldcorn 75 75 78, Adam Groom (Aus) 75 77 76, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 75 80 73, Fulton Allem (Rsa) 78 76 74

229 Klas Eriksson (Swe) 76 78 75, Marc Cayeux (Zim) 75 79 75

230 Robert Coles 79 71 80, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 74 76 80, Chris Williams 73 77 80, Leif Westerberg (Swe) 77 73 80

231 Brad Kennedy (Aus) 74 78 79, Jason Knutzon (USA) 78 76 77, Ben Mason 74 78 79

232 Christopher Hanell (Swe) 76 77 79, Jean-Francois Remesy (Fra) 76 78 78

233 Malcolm Mackenzie 77 78 78

235 Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 76 80 79

238 Lee Williams (USA) 79 78 81

241 Gregory Hanrahan (USA) 78 81 82

Leading teams:

189 Kenneth Ferrie and Jonathan Edwards 64 65 60

193 Henrik Stenson and Rurik Gobel 67 64 6

197 Padraig Harrington and JP McManus 64 66 67, Rich Beem and John Tyson 62 65 70

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