Robert Karlsson moves ahead with 66 - Deutsche Bank Players Championship 2006

Karlsson holds a two-shot lead after shrugging off a weather delay of 95 minutes - and the theft of his ball marker - to card a 6-under-par 66 on Saturday to move to 20-under 196 after three rounds.

Westwood, seeking a third victory at Gut Kaden, fired a 67 to finish at 18-under, two shots ahead of European Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam and South African Charl Schwartzel.

Retief Goosen of South Africa, Scotland's Gary Orr and Italian Emanuele Canonica share fifth place at 15-under.

With 600,000 points on offer to the winner, victory on Sunday could be crucial to the leading duo's chances of qualifying for the European team at the K Club in September.

Karlsson could move as high as seventh in the standings while Westwood could reach as high as 12th.

Wales Open winner Karlsson had made a superb start to his third round with five birdies in the first seven holes but lost his momentum when play was suspended due to the threat of lightning with the last group on the 11th green.

When it resumed, both Karlsson's and Woosnam's ball markers were missing and the pair had to estimate where they should be replaced before play could continue. Karlsson had in fact been facing a relatively short birdie putt but eventually missed it and had to settle for par.

"Someone stole my ball marker but it was a bad one to steal," Karlsson said. "It was one Swedish kroner, worth about (14 cents). We tried to find the pitchmark but it was a couple of hours later and you are never going to find the exact spot. It was definitely not nearer the hole and it's good to know that.

"It happens pretty much every time we have a delay, although not this year in Ireland because there was no one on the course in that bad weather. The spectators didn't want to take my three tee pegs in the deep rough!"

Karlsson controversially missed out on a wild card for the 1999 Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts.

"There is a lot more to play for than the Ryder Cup tomorrow," Karlsson said. "This tournament is a separate thing. I can't let myself start thinking about 'This will happen, or that won't happen.' I can't go there and I won't let myself go there.

"So many other things will come with a win, like world ranking points, all sorts of things. If I win tomorrow, I will look at the Ryder Cup on Monday."