THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD (GB&I unless stated) -18 R Karlsson (Swe) -12 P Broadhurst -11 G Orr -10 S Dyson, H Nystrom (Swe) Selected others: -9 D Park, C Montgomerie

Following opening rounds of 61 and 63 in Newport, the Swede, 36, broke the mark of 192 set by Tiger Woods in the NEC International at Firestone in 2000.

Paul Broadhurst shot a 67 to take second place, Gary Orr (65) one behind.

Henrik Nystrom and Simon Dyson are tied for fourth a further stroke back, Colin Montgomerie slipping away with a 69.

David Park led the home challenge, a 64 taking him to nine-under and a share of sixth place.

Karlsson's hitting it so far it's like a pitch-and-putt course to him Paul Broadhurst

Broadhurst admitted that playing-partner Karlsson - who has not won on the European Tour since his fifth tournament victory in 2002 - was making the course look like "a pitch-and-putt".

"Six shots is massive the way he is playing so it's going to be tough to catch him," said Broadhurst, whose round contained six birdies and four bogeys

"I got within three shots after six but then caught a bad lie in the rough on seven and shanked a sand iron.

"If you hit a shot like that it's going to unsettle you and it was tough to put it out of my mind.

If you start thinking that it's yours to win then you are in big trouble Robert Karlsson

"I'm going to have to try to put him under some sort of pressure tomorrow but he's hitting it so far it's like a pitch-and-putt course to him.

"I'm hitting it as far as I can and he's still 30 or 40 yards past me."

Monaco-based Karlsson gave the chasing pack hope with a double bogey on the 14th, where he found water with his approach from heavy rough.

But a stunning drive and eight iron from 190 yards set up an eagle on the 16th to restore his cushion.

"There's another 18 holes to go and if someone throws in a 61 behind me I will still have to play well to win," insisted the Swede.

"If you start thinking that it's yours to win then you are in big trouble. I'm trying to stay away from those sorts of thoughts all the time.

Victory on Sunday and the �250,000 first prize would take Karlsson into the automatic qualifying places for the Ryder Cup, a contest he came agonisingly close to making in 1999.

Little found glory with a five iron at the second hole

"You can never make up for what happened but it would be a fantastic bonus," said Karlsson, who finished 11th in the standings in 1999 and ninth in the final counting event, but was overlooked for a wild card by captain Mark James in favour of Andrew Coltart.

"But even if I win I would need almost as much again to make it and there are a lot of big tournaments left."

Stuart Little scored a hole in one at the second as scores continued to tumble at the Celtic Manor.

The Englishman, 38, holed out with a five iron from 190 yards, but could still only shoot a 69 and finished at four-under.