Price keeps rising

The sporting world was full of Hansens again yesterday. While Anders was back in Denmark and still celebrating his surprise victory in last week's PGA Championship at Wentworth, his soul-mate and European Tour travelling companion Søren was doing his best to also rise up the rankings via an outstanding performance in the third round of the Victor Chandler British Masters at Woburn. Alan, meanwhile, was talking relentlessly about football somewhere.

Until last week many people, even quite well-informed people, thought the Hansen golfers were brothers. They are both Danes, of course, they tend to eat, work and play together and even went so far last year to have their maiden Tour holes-in-one in consecutive weeks. Now Søren is trying his damnedest to follow his pal's example of last week by winning his first Euro circuit title this afternoon, his cause helped considerably by a flurry of birdies yesterday to take him within touching distance of leader Philip Price.

It was a day made for high-octane, low-scoring golf, the new Marquess Course at its most vulnerable with only the gentlest of winds teasing its beautifully contoured acres. And no one made more hay while the sun shone than Ireland's Padraig Harrington who woke from the trance he seemed to be enduring over the opening two rounds to hit the ground sprinting. Actually, Harrington also hit the ground listening.

With a tee-off time of 9.10am, he spent his practice hour tuned into Ireland's World Cup game and only took his headset off on the first tee to hit his ball before tuning in again as he walked down the first couple of fairways. 'I might have struggled to concentrate if I'd been wondering how it ended up,' he grinned. Instead of wondering, he was galvanised by the Irish comeback against Cameroon and immediately set about a renaissance of his own making, with eight birdies in an otherwise unblemished round of 65 that took him to eight under par and in with a real chance today of some serious prize-money.

With the US Open less than a fortnight away, Harrington's return to mercurial form is reassuring for a player who enjoyed his best-ever US Masters in April when he tied for fifth place to emphasise his emergence as a real contender in the biggest events.

There is reassurance also for Justin Rose, who went into the PGA as the highest ranked Englishman, a position of respect that was swiftly overturned by Nick Faldo's performance at Wentworth. Now with Faldo elsewhere this weekend, Rose has the chance to slip into pole position again and a round that was embroidered by seven birdies and marred by just one bogey as it drew to a close yesterday took him into fourth position here and ready to pass the country's greatest-ever golfer again.

A tasty week also for the leader. Price, as quiet and polite a Welshman as you meet in a month of Baptist Sundays, was upset last month when his caddie defected to Colin Montgomerie without even a brief goodbye. That caused ructions at the time, but while Monty was struggling a bit yesterday, Price now has the chance to achieve closure on the incident as he headed to the clubhouse on 15 under, protecting a one-stroke lead.

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