COPENHAGEN, 10 August 2003 — Britain’s Colin Montgomerie moved a step closer to his first win of the year when he tied for the Nordic Open third-round lead yesterday with Soren Hansen of Denmark.

Hansen sent a huge home crowd wild by equaling the course record with a 10-under-par 62 to storm through the field to lead on 17-under. But Montgomerie joined him with a 64 and the top pair were a stroke better than the overnight leader, Frenchman Gregory Havret (69), and Britons Ian Poulter (65) and David Gilford (67).

Had Montgomerie not three-putted the long 12th from only 20 feet, the 40-year-old Scot would have led on his own.

With his British Open hand injury seemingly healed, the seven-time European number one is in the mood to chalk up his first success since winning the TCL Classic in China last November. Montgomerie tried to weigh up whether the pressure would be on his chief rival Hansen in the final round, saying: “Home pressure, huge crowds, it could go either way. He certainly wasn’t bothered by the crowd today.

Hansen’s 62 matched Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin’s opening round record, bettering the Dane’s career-best by a stroke. While Hansen excelled, his compatriot and co-tournament favorite Thomas Bjorn, like Montgomerie tuning up for an assault on next week’s US PGA Championship, had a mediocre 72.

It left Bjorn nine strokes off the lead and with little chance of bettering his second-placed finishes in his last two events, the British and Irish Opens.

Love Moves 10 Points Clear at The International

At Castle Rock, Colorado, Davis Love III recorded three eagles as he amassed a second round total of 17 points to build a sizable 10-point lead at The International on Friday.

Love recorded the most points in the modified Stableford scoring system for the second successive day and leads with a tournament-record 36 points.

John Rollins scored 15 to lie alone in second with 26 points, while 1997 champion Phil Mickelson totaled 14 points and is third on 22.

Fiji’s Vijay Singh (15) and Kent Jones (14) are tied for fourth with 19 points. The International uses a modified Stableford format that awards points for under-par scores and deducts points for scores over par.

An double-eagle is worth eight points, an eagle five points and a birdie two points. A bogey subtracts one point and double-bogey three points. Pars are worth no points.

Love notched up 15 of his points with eagles on three of Castle Pines Golf Club’s four par-fives to go with three birdies, a bogey and a double bogey.

Starting on the back nine, Rollins birdied five of his first seven holes and made the turn with a five-under 31. Rollins continued his birdie barrage on the front nine with three more birdies. His lone bogey came at the par-three fourth hole.

So Far, Sophie Good in Sweden

In Stockholm, Sweden’s Sophie Gustafson fired an error free nine under par 63, smashing the course record to lead on 15 under par after three rounds of the Swedish Open yesterday.

The 29-year-old is on the verge of winning for the third time in her last four starts in Europe and leads by two shots from compatriot and world number one Annika Sorenstam, who had a five under par 67 of her own. Vibeke Stensrud from Norway rattled off a six under 66 to take third place outright on 11 under, one clear of Becky Morgan from Wales who also had 66, England’s Laura Davies, who had 70, and second round leader Silvia Cavalleri from Italy, who could only muster a level par 72 after setting the course record on Friday.

The Solheim Cup pair of Suzann Pettersen from Norway and Iben Tinning from Denmark share seventh place on nine under and Tinning’s compatriot Karen-Margrethe Juul joins New Zealander Lynnette Brooky on eight under par.