Dunhill Cup Day 3

Thorbjorn on the 18th.

It was Thorbjorn Olesen's day at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. He shot a great 7 under 65 at St Andrews to get to seventeen under par, and hold a three shot lead over Germany’s Florian Fritsch.

Thorbjorn played with Darren Clarke, so he cannot have failed to impress Europe’s Ryder Cup captain.

"It's great," Olesen said of his position. "I was close once before, finishing second in this tournament (in 2012). I know this golf course pretty well and I know how it is to be up there is in this tournament so hopefully tomorrow I can go out there and find a few birdies and see if I can get over the line."

He’s had an injury hit season with a tendon problem in his left hand. He came into the week a lowly 124th on the Race to Dubai, with just the top 110 retaining their cards at the end of the season. If he can win again this week he would retain his card.

"After I holed the first long putt I felt really comfortable on the greens and the putter got really hot in the end," Olesen added on Sky Sports 4.

Olesen's all smiles with a 65.

Fritsch is also at the wrong end of the League to Dubai rankings, but that pressure helped him to produce a beautiful 64 at Kingsbarns.

"Definitely at the beginning I was probably a bit more worried about maybe making the cut because this is a very big tournament, especially for me with the money that can be won and the position that I'm in," Fritsch said.

"A couple of choices were made due to that situation over what I would probably usually do but that's what tournament golf does to you at times. I got more and more comfortable towards the end.

"The golf course is very open. You can't really lose a ball and that is definitely something that I enjoy and I guess most golfers like. It loosens you up despite the situation."

The lowest round of the day belonged to Sweden's Joakim Lagergren. He shot an amazing 62, to finish 12-under alongside Kiradech Aphibarnrat, Bradley Dredge and Chris Stroud, with four-time major winner Ernie Els part of a six-strong group on 11 under.

Ernie recovers from the yips.

Just two days after suffering from a terrible attack of the dreaded yips, Ernie has bounced right back into it.

Els miss from just inches in his first round of 72 at Carnoustie, followed by a 67 at Kingsbarns on Friday, had left Ernie six shots off the overnight lead shared by Walker Cup star Jimmy Mullen and Anthony Wall.

However, while Mullen and Wall had to tackle Carnoustie on Saturday, usually the toughest of the three courses used for the pro-am event, Els was playing the Old Course at St Andrews and went and made hay. He was back in the clubhouse with a -6 under his belt.

Joint overnight leader Jimmy Mullen could only manage a 74 at Carnoustie to drop eight shots off the lead, one behind his GB&I teammate Paul Dunne.

Florian Fritsch and German footballer Michael Ballack lead the Team Championship on 30-under-par. Among the other teams making the cut are Brandon Grace & Huey Lewis and Olesen & Kelly Slater, the surfing legend.

It was also great to see Nick Doughery making some progress. He shot a 70, and is back in a group of nine on 7 under for the tournament.