Harrington slips off the pace

Padraig Harrington's pursuit of a €1million bonus was all but halted this afternoon when the Dubliner dropped three shots in his third round of the PGA Championship at a damp Wentworth.

As winner of last week's Irish Open, Harrington is the only participant who would pick up a massive pay packet of  €730,000 plus the bonus of €1m if he was to win at Wentworth, but a card that showed five bogeys and just two birdies left him seven behind England's joint-leaders Paul Broadhurst and Ross Fisher.

Harrington's fellow Dubliners also failed to make headway with Paul McGinley dropping to three-over-par after a 76.

Peter Lawrie was not as unfortunate and is level par after a one-under-par 71.

South Africa's Richard Sterne and Australia's Marcus Fraser are one behind the leaders. Sterne carded the round of the day when he hit a 66 that saw him lead in the clubhouse for a period, but he was overtaken late on by Broadhurst and Fisher, after both birdied the last three holes.

Broadhurst's 68, though, was particularly pleasing for the Englishman and not because it put him in line for the biggest win and the biggest pay-day of his long career. The 41-year-old also knew he was guaranteeing himself the newspaper coverage he felt he was due when he shared the first-round pace.

Making reference to what he called "The Justin Rose Show", Broadhurst had matched the 26-year-old's opening 66, but then struggled to find his name in a headline anywhere.

"I went to the papers on Friday hoping to read about myself and I didn't," said the former Ryder Cup player, who now has a chance to win the European Tour's flagship event five years after his career was hanging by a thread.

"I got a couple of lines and it annoyed me a little bit. That will be in the papers tomorrow, won't it?"

Fisher is the same age as overnight leader Rose - who is on seven-under after a sloppy 73 - and although he does not yet have the same high profile, that will change if he is the one to first prize.

The young golfer had a rollercoaster ride of 69 on the very course where he learnt to play the game, but he obviously knows where to pick up shots after managing six birdies, five in the last seven holes, and one eagle.

If by tomorrow he can avoid the slip-ups he made today, which included three bogeys and a double on the ninth, the youngster could well put himself on the golfing map with a win at this famous course.

World number five Ernie Els had an unusually erratic round, mixing two eagles and four birdies with one triple-bogey, a double-bogey and three bogeys as he carded a 72 for 216.

His triple-bogey seven came when he four-putted the seventh green.

"That was wacky, ridiculous, crazy," said Els, who has masterminded the recent course changes at Wentworth. "It is hard to explain that."