Richie Ramsay is right there amongst an impressive leaderboard as the British Masters entertained a huge crowd with birdies between the rain showers at Close House.
Ramsay, the highest placed Scot in the Race to Dubai, is tucked in behind surprise leader Robert Karlsson, with Rory McIlroy just a shot further back after his best round since June.
Lee Westwood – despite his first bogeys of the week as tournament host – Ian Poulter and former winner Matt Fitzpatrick are among the top names close by.
Tyrrell Hatton and held the lead outright down the stretch, but two late bogeys pitched him one shot behind the veteran Swede on a course which had been set up for low scoring even with the putting surfaces soft and receptive after all the rain.
Karlsson, selected by Thomas Bjorn as his vice captain for the Ryder Cup in France next year, picked up a birdie at 17 to tie Hatton and then saw the Dunhill Links champion three-putt the par three 18th to hand him the 54-hole lead.
Westwood had the outright lead as well for a spell but his first bogeys of the week – at the 13th and 14th – and then a dropped shot at the last pushed him back to nine-under, where he had started the day.
Ramsay, the last Scot to win a European Tour event in Morocco two years ago, had a slow start but picked up four shots at the end of the front nine, getting an eagle two at the ninth where the tee was moved up 90 yards.
The Scot hit a three-wood to 25 feet and holed it for his two, and picked up three more birdies for a 65 to finish at 11-under, tied with Ireland’s Paul Dunne, local favourite Graeme Storm, and Poulter.
“Just pleased with how I’m playing and looking forward to being in the mix,” he said after his round. “I haven’t felt nervous yet so I’m looking forward to getting a few butterflies tomorrow and just doing the same as I did today.”
McIlroy’s six-under 64 was his best score since the Travellers Championship in June, although he admitted he felt his rib injury a little in the cold, even if it didn’t affect him playing.
“It’s certainly a bit different to 19 degrees that I was in last week,” he said. “But I’m really enjoying being here and the crowds, – it’s nice to have 1000s following you and pushing you on.”
A chip-in at the fifth got him off to a quicker start and he took full advantage of the easy scoring conditions, although he expected to by four or five strokes behind going into the final round.
“It’ll be nice to be in the last half-dozen or so groups and get that feeling again, but I’m pretty relaxed about playing just now and everything good that happens is just a bonus.”
Warren, who moved up to 100th on the Race to Dubai – the last qualifying place to retain a playing card – after last week’s Portugal Masters, continued his progress with a 65 and go into a tie for 16th.
“It does feel as if the season’s starting properly only now,” said the Scot, who struggled with a shoulder injury throughout the summer but is now fully fit. “This is the seventh week out of a run of ten and it’s gratifying to see the progress I’m making.”
Warren is due to become a father for the second time in just over a week, but plans to play on through the Dunhill Links and the Italian Open, which both carry huge prizefunds, in an attempt to make himself safe for next season.
Stephen Gallacher had to withdraw from Portugal last week with chronic sinusitis and was on a drip due to dehydration, but shot 66 in just two hours 46 minutes playing on his own first out to jump nearly 30 places up the leaderboard.
“And that was taking it easy,” he said. “It’s pretty hilly out there. If it was Sunningdale, I’d have been round in two hours.
“I like playing on my own anyway, that’s how I like to practice. If you are first out, you can zip round and the greens were perfect for me.
“There’s no excuse for playing slowly at any time.”
Duncan Stewart shot a 67 to move up to five-under for the tournament as he seeks to retain his playing rights in his rookie year on Tour.
