Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin, seeking to seal his Ryder Cup place this weekend, dropped late shots in heavy rain on Saturday to allow in-form Retief Goosen to catch him for the German Open lead.

Sandelin's 10-under-par total after a one-over 73 was matched by recent French Open winner Goosen, who made light of the bad weather to card a 68.

They led by a stroke from two Britons. Scotland's Raymond Russell's nine-birdie 63 was shot in more benign morning conditions to move him to 207 with Gary Evans.

Evans, the first round leader who shattered the Berlin Sporting Club course record with a 62, birdied the last for a 70 to keep his chances of a maiden victory alive.

Sandelin's misery at allowing an earlier two-shot lead on his own slip from his grasp with bogeys at the 13th and 16th was plain to see.

"It's very disappointing and it's never very nice to follow a 64 with a 73, " said the Swede, who will still be close to a Ryder Cup debut even if he finishes second here.

"I shouldn't have dropped the shots even if the weather was bad. It was going to be hard to win before and with Retief around it's going to be even harder.

"My one comfort is that today's 73 would have been a 78 a couple of years ago. At least I proved again I can keep my cool now when things start to go wrong."

South African Goosen continued his impressive build-up to next week's U.S. Open.

Like Sandelin he has a special reason for finishing first. He will go past six-times European number one Colin Montgomerie on top of the order of merit with his second win of the season.

"The rain was only irritating and it was a case of staying dry and keeping focused, concentrating on every shot," said Goosen.