“I’m absolutely ecstatic about that score,” he said afterwards, looking as white as a sheet.

“If I had been feeling tip-top it would have been brilliant.”

Playing partner Padraig Harrington, just ahead of Rose on the money list and also needing top three on Sunday to go past the absent Ernie Els and keep his crown, suffered a one-stroke penalty when his ball was blown off its spot after he had addressed it.

That came on the seventh green but the Open champion, already two over at the time, came storming back with five back-nine birdies for a level-par 71 and a share of fifth spot.

As for Swedes Henrik Stenson and Niclas Fasth, who both have to win the tournament to have a chance of finishing as number one, their hopes suffered big blows when they shot 76 and 75 respectively.

Only four of the 55-strong field broke the par of 71, McDowell leading by one from 2005 winner Paul McGinley and by two from Rose and Australian Peter O’Malley, while eight failed to break 80.

That group included Paul Casey, who had two eights and an eagle two on his scorecard, France’s Gregory Havret, who ran up a quintuple-bogey 10 on the long 17th, and 1982 champion Sandy Lyle with an amazing five air shots in his 84.

“I decided to be a complete pain in the arse and show I could play it left-handed,” said Lyle when asked what had happened on the 381-yard fifth.

Only at the sixth attempt did he move the ball from the base of a cork tree and he eventually walked off the green with the other 10 of the day.