Luke Donald and Matteo Manassero maintain their share of the lead after three rounds of the BMW PGA Championship.
Donald, bidding to replace Lee Westwood as world number one, endured a miserable from nine before staging a superb fightback after the turn to end a dramatic third day alongside Manassero on five-under, two shots ahead of Westwood and Fabrizio Zanotti.
The world number two said: “It was slightly disappointing that I didn't take advantage of some of the opportunities that I had there and some of the bogeys I made were kind of weak bogeys, I felt.
“But I stuck in there at the end and after that bogey on 10, to come back in one-under for the last eight holes, which notoriously is a tricky stretch at Wentworth, was a good, grinding finish.
“So I'm still in a good position, and looking forward to the weekend.”
Donald has squandered several opportunities to top of the Official World Golf Rankings in recent weeks, and it looked as though he would miss out again as he floundered over the front nine.
The 33-year-old Englishman twice managed to avoid bogeys at the fourth and fifth, but double-bogeys at two and six and a bogey at the third meant he had it all to do on the inward nine.
And, to his relief, he was able to stage a comeback on the back nine with four birdies to rescue a one-over round of 72, the same as fellow leader Manassero, who shot two birdies and three bogeys on the front nine before parring every hole after the turn.
Westwood, meanwhile, gained ground on the leaders with a two-under-par 69 that improved him to three-under through 54 holes, and he knows he must finish above Donald on the leaderboard to avoid losing top spot in the rankings.
Zanotti also shot a 69 to ensure he would take a share of second place into the final day, while Rafael Jacquelin, Bradley Dredge and Simon Dyson are also in the hunt at two-under.
Rory McIlroy’s improvement continued with his best round of the tournament, but the Northern Irishman is well off the pace at one-over, a shot ahead of Volvo World Match Play Championship winner Ian Poulter.
