Australian Peter O&aposMalley was not in contention after the third round of the Volvo Masters in Spain as Englishman Justin Rose carried a commanding four-stroke lead into the final day. Rose is in sight of becoming the European Tour&aposs youngest number one for 18 years after an amazing rollercoaster ride at Valderrama on Saturday. He was third behind Ernie Els and Padraig Harrington in the Order of Merit race prior to this tournament. His countryman Simon Dyson shares second with Harrington on even par, while O&aposMalley is the best of the Australians on seven-over after firing a four-over-par 75 on Saturday. Playing together for the second time in three days, Open champion Harrington and Rose both returned 71s but were force to endure a raft of emotions. Harrington, four behind at the halfway stage, incredibly cancelled that out in just two holes when he birdied the first while Rose followed an opening bogey with a sloppy double-bogey. For all the world, it looked as if Rose had lost his way in pursuit of the money-list crown and his first tournament win since last November&aposs Australian Masters. Rose was almost in the lake on the long fourth, but after escaping there with a par five he settled down and was soon taking control again. “I was a little bit shell-shocked after the start,” admitted Rose. “It was certainly not what the doctor ordered, but on the third tee I told myself I was still leading.” “I said yesterday that a four-shot lead at halfway is nothing to get excited about and I proved it.” “But I survived today. It was a great day to get round in level par and maintain a four-shot lead. “A few weeks ago I was of the mindset that if it (becoming Europe&aposs number one) happened it happened, but last week came the realisation that it&aposs something I really wanted.” Birdies on the eighth, 10th and 11th repaired all the damage and by then Harrington had become the one to wobble. His opening three was something of a miracle as he had to hit his second through a gap in the branches of a tree, but things started to go wrong three holes later. Heading towards the lake with his second, the ball hit rocks and flew 60 yards away to the right. It was lucky he was back on dry land, but from the rough he then pitched into the water and took six. Third Round of the Volvo Masters, Cadiz, Spain (Par 71): -4 Justin Rose 70 68 71 E Simon Dyson 74 70 69, Padraig Harrington 71 71 71 +3 Martin Kaymer 72 78 66, Soren Kjeldsen 73 70 73, Colin Montgomerie 72 73 71, Ian Poulter 76 71 69 +4 Graeme McDowell 68 75 74, Jyoti Randhawa 73 70 74 +5 Alex Cejka 78 70 70, Robert Karlsson 77 70 71, Paul McGinley 69 75 74 Also: +7 Peter O&aposMalley (Australia) 70 75 75 +9 Brett Rumford (Australia) 73 74 75
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