Clarke's return home before cut proves all too costly as Ulsterman hires jet to travel back to Spain

Clarke had flown home on Friday expecting his halfway score to be one stroke too many to play the weekend, but as the scoring deteriorated he was forced into a costly rethink.

The Ulsterman landed back in Malaga at 2am yesterday, made it to bed in Seville two-and-a-half hours later and managed just 53 minutes' sleep before hauling himself up to card a level-par 72.

Clarke said the misjudgment had cost him a "five-figure sum".

"With the Tour staging such a good event it would have been very unprofessional not to make the event," he said.

"We looked into getting a (private] jet to get me back here, but as it was the Bank Holiday weekend they were all busy. At 8.15, though, I got a call telling me to get to Oxford airport as soon as possible."

Clarke spoke of how he and his agent came to the decision to fly home before the cut. "I consulted with Chubby (agent Andrew Chandler) andwe decided that I wasn't going to make it, so I flew home."

He added: "When it looked as though I might make it after all I set back off again to catch a plane from Gatwick to Seville but turned round when it looked as though I had no chance.

"Then I found I was in. I had no idea where the plane I share with Lee (Westwood) was, so paid for a private plane from Oxford to Malaga."

On the golfing front, England's Mark Foster takes a three-stroke lead into the final day, sitting on 12 under par after a third-round 69.

Now he must just hope that he does not come a cropper like the leaders following the opening two days. First Argentina's Ricardo Gonzalez followed up a 65 with a 79 and only just survived the cut, then Swede Johan Edfors returned after a second-round 64 and hit 76.

Alvaro Quiros, Carlos Del Moral and Raphael Jacquelin share second place.