Richie Ramsay in right position to mount challenge for title

An upbeat Ramsay was satisfied with his efforts, despite dropping shots on the final two holes. He said: "I was a little disappointed with the last couple of holes but to shoot three under par out there on probably the harder part of the day when the greens were firmer, and the wind was a little bit stronger than it has been, it was really pleasing."

James Morrison dropped three shots in the last two holes to only share the lead with fellow Englishman Mark Foster with a round to go at the Alstom French Open in Paris.

The 26-year-old had birdied four of the previous six holes to go clear at Le Golf National, but came up short of the 17th green and after chipping on three-putted for a six. Off another perfect drive down the 470-yard last he then pulled his approach into a bunker and failed to get up and down. It added up to a one-over-par 72 for Morrison, who had earlier gone into the lake for a double-bogey five on the short second.

Foster's third successive 68 had set the clubhouse target on nine under par and the 35-year-old will go out in the final group on the final day for the second week running.

World No.4 Martin Kaymer and France's Thomas Levet are in joint fourth place three behind after both shot 67.

Kaymer, winner two years ago, had an eagle on the 14th, but it was crowd favourite Levet who made the biggest move before he became another victim of the 18th. The former Ryder Cup player and 2002 Open runner-up was six under for the day, but then pulled his drive into the water and ran up a double bogey six.

"I felt like I was in the Ryder Cup - it was so noisy," said the 42-year-old, who has been mentioned as a possible captain of Europe when the venue hosts the 2018 match.

"Days like today keep me competing. You make putts, you make people happy."

Kaymer said: "My short game was very good and the eagle kept me going - it's put me in a good position. Last year I had a chance and made double bogeys on 15 and 18. Hopefully it will be different tomorrow."

Colin Montgomerie managed only a 74 to fall back to two over and now needs a miracle to claim the top-five finish he needs to earn the Open spot on offer. He is in 36th place.

n Sweden's Caroline Hedwall claimed her second Ladies European Tour title in five weeks as she secured a two-stroke victory at the Finnair Masters in Helsinki.

The 22-year-old shot a final round three-under-par 68 for a 54-hole total of 202, 11 under par at Helsinki Golf Club.

She had gone into the final round with a one-shot lead after a six-under-par 65 yesterday and it proved enough to hold off the challenge of Holland's Christel Boeljon, who finished two strokes back on nine under after a 67. Hedwall said: "I'm playing pretty well.It was a good day. It was fun. My best day was yesterday. I shot six under and I think that was the key to the win. It put me in a good position. I played pretty solid and I knew that if I holed a few putts I would have a good score.

"I'm going to keep on going and hopefully earn a few more wins."

Hedwall won the Allianz Ladies Slovak Open five weeks ago and, with her second title and season's earnings of 134,972.79 euros from 11 events, she moved to third on the LET's Henderson Money List. She also moved to ninth on the European Solheim Cup rankings, having earned all her points in her last four tournament appearances.