BBC SPORT | Golf | Angry Clarke holding on

"This is definitely a tournament I should have in the bag already," said Clarke.

"I hit it great all day from tee to green until the 17th. It was my only poor drive, and then I overhit my third shot."

Joint overnight leader David Drysdale started with a double bogey six and rapidly tumbled down the leaderboard.

Passing him going the other way was Denmark's Soren Hansen, who hit a 64, the best round of the week, to lie one shot behind the leaders.

Alongside Hansen on 12 under was Steve Webster, whose inward 31 helped him to a round of 65.

Breathing down their necks are Sam Walker and Justin Rose, whose round of 68 included an eagle three on the 17th.

Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance had a good day, hitting a seven-under-par 65 to set the early clubhouse lead.

Torrance, lying 47th after two rounds, is four shots adrift of the leaders in joint eighth place, alongside fellow veteran Sandy Lyle, who hit a 66.

Torrance, who is two months away from his 49th birthday, would become the oldest winner in European tour history were he to claim victory in the event.

Bitter taste

The Scot went to the turn in just 31 strokes and added further birdies on the 11th, 12th and 17th to take the overall lead.

But his tee shot to the 211-yard 18th landed in sand, his recovery came out 20 feet short of the flag, and he ended up dropping a shot.

"The last leaves a bit of a bitter taste, but I played very solidly otherwise," said Torrance.

"Age is only a number. I am very fit and supple. My shoulder turn's good, and so is my nerve."

English Open third round scores (GB and Ireland unless stated):

203 Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 68 65, Darren Clarke 65 70 68
204 Soren Hansen (Den) 72 68 64, Steve Webster 72 67 65
205 Sam Walker 68 71 66, Justin Rose 68 69 68
206 Phillip Price 68 68 70
207 Sam Torrance 70 72 65, Robert-Jan Derksen (Ned) 69 73 65, Sandy Lyle 71 70 66, Dennis Edlund (Swe) 68 70 69, Mark Roe 67 70 70
208 Barry Lane 71 70 67, Wayne Riley (Aus) 71 70 67, David Drysdale 68 67 73
209 Nick O'Hern (Aus) 73 68 68, Stephen Dodd 71 70 68, Ian Poulter 68 72 69, Yeh Wei-tze (Tai) 68 72 69, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 69 71 69, Jamie Donaldson 68 71 70, Johan Skold (Swe) 71 68 70
210 Simon Dyson 69 74 67, Peter Fowler (Aus) 68 74 68, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 72 68, Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 72 69, David Carter 71 70 69, Bradley Dredge 69 72 69, Robert Coles 71 69 70, Paul Casey 69 71 70, Charlie Wi (Kor) 70 70 70, Gregory Havret (Fra) 71 69 70, Grant Hamerton 67 72 71, Didier de Vooght (Bel) 67 71 72
211 Nick Dougherty 70 73 68, Paul Broadhurst 71 71 69, Benn Barham 72 68 71
212 Adam Mednick (Swe) 71 72 69, Shaun Webster 69 74 69, Marten Olander (Swe) 70 73 69, Pierre Fulke (Swe) 74 68 70, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 71 70, Ian Garbutt 71 71 70, Chris Gane 73 69 70, Santiago Luna (Spa) 70 72 70, David J Russell 70 71 71, Greg Owen 70 71 71, Graeme Storm 67 73 72, Marc Pendaries (Fra) 72 68 72, Roger Chapman 69 71 72, Gary Evans 71 68 73, Jarrod Moseley (Aus) 65 73 74, Darren Prosser 69 68 75
213 David Howell 69 73 71, Russell Claydon 70 71 72, Van Phillips 70 71 72, Gary Orr 67 73 73
214 Joakim Haeggman (Swe) 70 73 71, David Gilford 71 71 72, Gordon Brand Jnr 74 68 72, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 71 71 72, Malcolm Mackenzie 72 69 73, Christophe Pottier (Fra) 75 66 73, Alberto Binaghi (Ita) 67 74 73
215 Philip Walton 71 72 72, Paul McGinley 72 71 72, Andrew Marshall 72 71 72, Hennie Walters (Rsa) 69 73 73, Roger Wessels (Rsa) 70 72 73, Eamonn Darcy 74 68 73, Fredrik Andersson (Swe) 69 72 74
216 Brian Davis 72 71 73, Jeremy Robinson 71 72 73, Andrew Oldcorn 72 70 74, Lucas Parsons (Aus) 74 68 74, Peter Baker 69 72 75
217 Michael Archer 70 73 74, Mark Pilkington 68 75 74
218 David Lynn 72 71 75, Sebastien Delagrange (Fra) 71 71 76
220 Simon Khan 71 72 77