A FIERCELY gusting wind heavily reinforced the course in the third

round of the Murphy's English Open yesterday at The Belfry. At the end

six of the 78 qualifiers were below par, 21 fewer than at the start.

Only five players matched or bettered 72, and although 18 more were

within two strokes, the same number failed to break 80.

When the mingled sighs of relief and groans of disaffection had

subsided after rounds lasting well over four hours, two Swedes, a

stoical people used to rough weather, headed the battered field.

Per-Ulrik Johansson's 72 brought him level with the overnight leader,

Frederik Lindgren, on 211, five under par, to share a two-stroke

advantage.

Mark Roe, the only native professional among the first six, was on 213

with the Italian Silvio Grappasonni, and they were a stroke further

ahead of the veteran Argentinian Vicente Fernandez and Brett Ogle, a

former Australian PGA champion. The thought of the first prize of

#91,660 will surely test resolve and technique today.

The imperative was to limit errors and losses when conditions made

control of the ball so difficult. Gains were as pure gold, confirmed by

the fact that the leading players had only eight birdies in 108 holes

between them as against 17 bogeys and one double-bogey. Patience was the

essential antedote to frustration.

A notable departure from this requirement was made by Colin

Montgomerie. He came to the tenth having played the first nine holes

each in par and although the tee at the 298-yard hole was forward by 45

yards Montgomerie, having rejected the risk of a driver shot into the

wind, laid up short of the pond.

But Montgomerie's pitch screwed back almost 20 feet down the slope

into the hazard, eliciting the subsequent outburst that this was ''a

stupid hole, a stupid pin position, and a stupid wind. It was like going

out of bounds.'' Three putts for bogeys at the fourteenth and fifteenth

did nothing to soothe the fevered brow.

At the last, Montgomerie's drive failed to carry the water and he took

three from the green's fringe for a 7, a triple-bogey. Having come home

in 43 for 79, Montgomerie was surely disingenuous to claim he had not

hit a bad shot.

Johansson, the 1991 Rookie of the Year, has had an inconsistent

season, perhaps because he pitched his expectations a little high. An

inward half of 34, two under par, was superlative golf in the

circumstances, and it was matched by his compatriot.

Johansson topped and tailed this score with birdies at the tenth and

eighteenth, where his No.2-iron shot to 15 feet produced only the third

gain at the 478-yard hole all day. Lindgren then caught up with him by

hitting his third shot close at the long seventeenth, where his wayward

drive suggested that par would be quite acceptable.

Roe was five under with four to play, only to take three from the edge

of the long fifteenth, and, with his cack-handed grip, three putts at

the next. But he held firm over the last two holes to join Grappasonni,

whose birdie at the short fourteenth was the only 2 mustered by the

leading group.

Fernandez, aged 42, won the PGA Championship at St Andrews in 1979

(one of his four European successes) in similarly bleak conditions. His

score of 73 was a tribute to the value of experience, and so also was

the 75 of Ogle.

Stephen McAllister led the Scottish survivors of the cut on 219 after

a 78, his short game understandably not always able to save inevitable

mistakes. Adam Hunter's 76 was the lowest score of the day among the

six, although it included three double-bogey 6s and he was obliged

afterwards to have treatment for continuing back and rib injuries.

Leading third-round aggregates (British and Irish unless otherwise

stated):

211 -- P-U Johansson (Sweden) 71, 68, 72; F Lindgren (Sweden) 69, 68,

74.

213 -- S Grappasonni (Italy) 70, 69, 74; M Roe 69, 69, 75.

214 -- V Fernandez (Argentina) 69, 72, 73; B Ogle (Australia) 72, 67,

75.

216 -- L Tinkler (Australia) 70, 72, 74; K Waters 71, 69, 76.

217 -- A Binaghi (Italy) 73, 73, 71; R Chapman 72, 69, 76; B Lane 70,

69, 78; R Davis (Australia) 67, 72, 78.

218 -- P O'Malley 75, 72, 71; S Luna (Spain) 73, 71, 74; P Price 72,

69, 77.

Other aggregates included:

220 -- S McAllister 70, 71, 78. 221 -- M Lanner (Sweden) 75, 71, 75; A

Hunter 73, 72, 76; C Mason 75, 68, 78; C Montgomerie 71, 71, 79.

222 -- J Bland (South Africa) 72, 75, 75; B Gallacher 74, 71, 77.

224 -- S Torrance 75, 72, 77.

226 -- D Gilford 72, 71, 83.

227 -- J McHenry 72, 75, 80; M Miller 73, 74, 80; G Evans 70, 75, 82.