Spaniard could be first European Open champion since Paul Lawrie

SERGIO GARCIA STARTS

LAST ROUND WITH THREE

STROKE LEAD FROM

STEVE STRICKER

The 2007 Open championship and his first Major success is Sergio Garcia's for the taking. He will carry a three-stroke lead into Sunday's final round at Carnoustie.
On a day of low scoring, Garcia needed a three-under-par 68 to maintain the pole position he has had since opening the tournament with a 65 on Thursday.

Garcia (pictured right) is on nine-under-par 204.

His closest rival is American Steve Stricker who carded the lowest round ever in an Open championship at Carnoustie. Striker himself is three shots ahead of the group sharing third place, including Paul McGinley, Padraing Harrington, Ernie Els and Paul Broadhurst.
Stricker equalled the course record held by Alan Tait and Colin Montgomerie with a flawless 64 for a six-under-par total of 207.
Stricker, a former Accenture World Match Play champion, birdied the first three holes and picked up further shots at the fifth and seventh, surprisingly missing out on a birdie at the par-5 sixth - statistically the second easiest hole on the course over the first two days.
Out in a best-of-the-week 31, the 40-year-old from Wisconsin also birdied the 13th and 14th and saved par from 30ft on the 15th after driving into a fairway bunker.
That was precisely the sort of round defending champion Tiger Woods had been looking for, but the world No. l had to settle for a 69 after twice hitting people in the crowd with wild shots.
One female spectator needed stitches in a head wound after being hit by Woods' sliced approach to the par-5 sixth hole.
Jennifer Wilson, 63, from County Antrim, was presented with a signed glove and ball from an apologetic Woods after suffering a cut to the left side of her head.
No damage was done when another fan was struck a glancing blow on the 14th, Woods going on to record one of his four birdies on the 514-yard par-5 to finish the day with a 69 for one-under-par 212 - eight shots behind Garcia.

But even Tiger was recalling 1999 winner Paul Lawrie's feat of eight years ago when he started the final round 10 shots off the pace and finished up winning the title after a three-way play-off.
Sadly, Alastair Forsyth's bid for glory came apart at the seams in the third round for which he required 78 shots for 219, the same total as Sandy Lyle.

Dubai-based Ross Bain, who qualified internationally, is the leading Scot on 216.

WEATHER NOTE: Chua Choo Chiang, Media Director of the Asian Tour, in sending out a Press Release about how Korean K J Choi was faring, prefaced his remarks with "On another FROSTY day at Carnoustie ..." Cold, yes. But, frosty? Hardly.

Choi said the chilly temperatures that forced him to use thick mittens to keep his hands warm and ensured that he struggled on the greens. He finished with a 72 to be one of the pack in joint third place on 210. Choi was won twice on the US PGA Tour this season.

THIRD ROUND
Par 213 (3 x 71)

204 Sergio Garcia (Esp) 75 71 68.
207 Steve Stricker (US) 71 72 64
210 Ernie Els (Rsa) 72 70 68, Chris DiMarco (US) 74 70 66, Stewart Cink (US) 69 73 68, Paul McGinley 67 75 68, Paul Broadhurst 71 71 68, Padraig Harrington 69 73 68, K J Choi (Kor) 69 69 72.

211 Vijay Singh (Fij) 72 71 68, Andres Romero (Arg) 71 70 70, Jim Furyk (US) 70 70 71, Mike Weir (Can) 71 69 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Esp) 69 70 72.
212 J J Henry (US) 70 71 71, Tiger Woods (US) 69 74 69, Justin Rose 75 70 67, Rich Beem (US) 70 73 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 72 73 67
213 Nick Watney (US) 72 71 70, Lucas Glover (US) 71 72 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 68 75 70, Angel Cabrera (Arg) 68 73 72.

214 Paul Casey 72 73 69, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 70 72 72, Pat Perez (US) 73 70 71, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 71 73, Zach Johnson (US) 73 73 68, Nick Dougherty 71 74 69, Lee Westwood 71 70 73.
215 Jerry Kelly (US) 74 70 71, Hunter Mahan (US) 73 73 69, Adam Scott (Aus) 73 70 72, Richard Green (Aus) 72 73 70, Jonathan Byrd (USA) 73 72 70 , Boo Weekley (US) 68 72 75.

216 Won Joon Lee (Aus) 73 73 70, Arron Oberholser (US) 73 71 72, Charley Hoffman (US) 75 69 72, Mark Calcavecchia (US) 74 70 72, Shaun Micheel (US) 70 76 70, Ian Poulter 73 73 70, Ben Curtis (US) 72 74 70, Ross Bain 73 71 72
217 Brian Davis 74 72 71, Rory McIlroy 68 76 73, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 75 69 73, John Senden (Aus) 72 74 71, Scott Verplank (US) 72 73 72
218 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 68 78 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 70 75 73, Ryan Moore (US) 72 72 74
219 Anders Hansen (Den) 72 73 74, David Howell 72 74 73, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 74 69 76, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 75 74, Luke Donald 70 76 73, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72 77, Mark Foster 76 70 73, Sandy Lyle 73 73 73, Alastair Forsyth 70 71 78.
220 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 74 76, Kevin Stadler (US) 75 71 74, Sean O'Hair (US) 71 75 74, Tom Lehman (USA) 73 73 74, Toru Taniguchi (Jpn) 72 72 76
222 Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 71 74 77, Mark O'Meara (US) 74 72 76, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 72 71 79.
225 Jon Bevan 73 73 79.