BBC SPORT | Golf | Monty makes his move

Montgomerie picked up five shots on the front nine

Colin Montgomerie enjoyed a birdie-laden third round to move into contention in the Nedbank Gold Challenge in Sun City.

The former European number one eagled the second and then birdied four consecutive holes from the sixth to the ninth, including a monster putt at the eighth.

And the Scot added further birdies on the 11th, 14th and 16th, offset by two bogeys, to end with a superb 65.

Montgomerie's charge moved him into a share of second place behind leader Ernie Els after starting his round joint last in the 12-man field.

Els, one ahead overnight, extended his lead to four going into the final round after a solid round of 69 featuring three birdies and no dropped shots.

American Chris DiMarco struggled early on but picked up a couple of shots around the turn to join Montgomerie on eight under.

Ernie Els celebrates his eagle on the 17th in his second round
Els continued his form of the second round

Montgomerie's Ryder Cup colleague Darren Clarke endured a frustrating round of 71 featuring five birdies and four bogeys.

The Northern Irishman birdied the last to get back to six under, but appears to have too much to do on Sunday with six shots to make up on Els.

Ireland's Padraig Harrington also enjoyed a fine start to his third round, posting birdies at the first, second, fifth and sixth to move to six under.

But he could not maintain the momentum and dropped back to five under after a round of 69.

Els takes halfway lead

Leaderboard after third round:

-12 Ernie Els
-8 Colin Montgomerie, Chris DiMarco
-6 Darren Clarke, Retief Goosen
-5 Padraig Harrington, Michael Campbell
-4 Jim Furyk


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