Lawrie's challenge falls well short

Peter Lawrie's challenge for the BMW International Open lead in Munich evaporated this afternoon when the Dubliner carded a 77 to drop 10 shots off the pace set by Sweden's Niclas Fasth's and Porugal's Jose Filipe Lima.

Lawrie began the day at six under and immediately moved to within five shots of Fasth's overnight lead with a birdie at the first.

A bogey on the sixth followed but an immediate birdie looked to have steadied the ship before a trio of drop shots from nine to eleven.

A double bogey on the 14th ensured a five-over-par finish to his third round and effectively ruled him out of contention for the tournament.

Former Ryder Cup star Thomas Levet, who feared for his career at the start of the season, could tomorrow celebrate his first victory for three years.

The 38-year-old Frenchman is still recovering from a vertigo problem so bad he told his wife she might have to start working again.

But despite his daily battle with fatigue Levet goes into the final round in joint third place, only two behind Fasth and Lima.

Levet, tied with England's Nick Dougherty and 47-year-old South African David Frost, was absolutely livid with himself at the end.

Having climbed into a share of the lead with five birdies in eight holes he bogeyed the short 17th and then dropped another shot at the 568-yard last, a hole which Dougherty had just eagled with a 15-foot putt.

"I was stupid at the last hole and so was my caddie," he said after putting his tee shot into sand and then finding rough. "No way should you hit driver.

"It's such a pity. I made a super comeback and it was all going my way, but then I let it go."

He had to be content with a level par 72, while Lima returned a 70 and halfway leader Fasth a 73.

It was in July last year that Levet, loser of a five-hole play-off to Ernie Els in the 2002 Open at Muirfield, was laid low by illness.

He had to stop playing because he was losing balance "100 times a day" and described his condition as like "a hamster spinning on its wheel. Except I'm not the hamster, I'm the wheel."

Levet needed a medical exemption on the US Tour and, 184th on last year's European Order of Merit, kept his card purely through from his career earnings of #3.6million.

He lies 198th on this year's money list after deciding to focus on this side of the Atlantic, but has returned this week to the course on which he finished runner-up to Miguel Angel Jimenez in 2004 and third behind John Daly and Padraig Harrington in 2001.