Nick Price latest big name Carnoustie victim

Former champion Nick Price became the latest high-profile victim of Carnoustie as the third round promised more of the same trials and tribulations today.

The 42-year-old from Zimbabwe, winner at Turnberry in 1994, was going along well with two pars and a birdie at the third to stand at eight over for the championship.

But his hopes of making a charge up the leaderboard were brought to a shuddering end on the par four fourth, where he ran up a triple bogey seven.

Price had almost given up on finding his ball deep in the rough to the right of the fairway when he was called back by spectators who found it buried in the long grass.

And he was probably left wishing the ball had remained lost after taking three attempts to get it back on the fairway, eventually finding the green in five and strolling off with a seven and dropping back to 11 over par.

Meanwhile Darren Clarke was leading the home challenge among the early starters, parring the first with a good up and down and then holing a 40-foot birdie effort on the second.

Another good recovery from the back of the third green kept the 30-year-old from Dungannon one under for the day and eight over for the tournament.

Compatriot Lee Westwood parred the first to remain nine over but found trouble on the next, drilling an attempted recovery from a fairway bunker straight into the face of the trap and being forced to change clubs and play his third shot from the sand.

He was far from alone in suffering at the hands of the 7,351 yard course, world number two David Duval going to the turn in 40 and double US Open winner Lee Janzen taking a quadruple bogey eight at the 15th after birdies at the previous two holes.

Westwood eventually ran up a double bogey six on the second and again found sand from the tee on the next, this time though he was able to save par to stay at 11 over.

Clarke's fine start also came to an abrupt halt with consecutive bogeys as Carnoustie again responded to any threat to its supremacy.

It was left to American Bob Estes to make any move up the leaderboard as he holed his second shot on the 342-yard third for an eagle to move to seven over, the same as Australian Craig Parry in the group ahead who picked up shots on the third and fourth.

Despite all the horror stories coming in from the course - Lee Janzen going eight-four-six to drop seven shots in the three holes - Parry was proving good scoring was possible.

A superb approach to the par five sixth left him just six feet for a third birdie of the day and at six over par the diminutive Australian found himself just five shots off the lead held by France's Jean Van De Velde who was due to begin his round shortly after 3pm.

Colin Montgomerie, who wrote off his chances of victory after yesterday's 76 left him at eight over, opened with a solid par four but playing partner Mark James could only manage a bogey five.

The Ryder Cup skipper had to speak to an R&A official and steward about crowd control with some spectators only having eyes for Monty and moving when James was about to play.