Kapur falters to lie joint seventh

After rounds of 69, 70 and 72, Kapur lies three shots behind leader Peter Hedblom (208) and a top-five result here would go a long way to salvage his European Tour card, which looks in jeopardy for the Indian ranked 127th on the European Tour money list.

Kapur looked very much in the title hunt after he birdied three of his first four holes and the seventh as well before bogeys on the fifth and eighth left him at two-under at the turn.
Even that would have been enough to move up to the second spot but he faltered on his way back. The youngster nailed his lone birdie on the 15th but it a bogey on the 10th and a double bogey on the 16th pushed him down the ladder.

Sweden's Peter Hedblom went to the top of the leaderboard for the second successive Saturday. Hedblom returned a four-under 68 for an eight-under total of 208, one ahead of 1999 British Open champion Paul Lawrie (73), who led for the opening two days.

Two late bogeys dropped Lawrie to seven-under, a stroke better than fellow Britons Steven O'Hara (66) and Jamie Donaldson (70), Frenchman Gregory Bourdy (71) and 2008 Ryder Cup player Soren Hansen (71) of Denmark.

Hedblom held a two-shot advantage going into the final round of last week's Dutch Open before losing out to Briton Simon Dyson in a play-off that also included Irishman Peter Lawrie.

The 13th hole proved a calamitous one for British rookie Jonathan Caldwell, who had been joint second overnight. The Northern Irishman four-putted there from only two feet for a triple-bogey seven as he slid to a 76 for 214. Jose Maria Olazabal, who was also in the title hunt overnight, bogeyed the last four holes for a 77 and 216, the same tally as Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie (72).