After weekend storms sent the tournament into a fifth day Donald first had to complete his third round and, despite a double bogey on the 14th, he was round in 70 and at 12 under par took a one-stroke lead into the afternoon 18 holes.

But he then played the first nine of them in a four over 40 to drop into a tie for third, two behind 40-year-old American Joe Durant.

A bad pitch into water on the fourth for another double bogey came either side of two three-putt bogeys before the Englishman, who went to college in Chicago and kept his base there on turning professional, tangled with the rough on the long ninth and ran up a six.

However, with so many dangerous holes to come – most notably the island green 17th – it was still all to play for.

Durant, ranked only 132nd in the world, was one in front of Fred Funk and two ahead of not only Donald, but also Scott Verplank.

All four were known for their accurate hitting, but said everything about the demands of the course.

Earlier Donald’s Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood had fallen away by playing the last five holes of his third round 80 in eight over – four bogeys and a quadruple on the short 17th, where he put two balls in the lake and crashed from seventh to 44th.

Not that that seven was the biggest nightmare on one of the sport’s most famous holes. Tway had that all to himself by matching the highest score in the history of the tournament.

Masters champion Phil Mickelson matched Westwood’s seven and Padraig Harrington had a five, but Tway put four balls in the water – two over the green, two short of it – and then, having finally found dry land with his fifth attempt, three-putted from 42 feet.

He was joint 10th at the time, but fell instantly to two over par and joint 72nd.

His score beat by one the tournament record for the hole, set by Robert Gamez in 1990, and equalled the 12 by the little-known Phillip Hancock at the 384-yard fourth in 1985.

Even without the wind Tway had taken a bogey four on the 17th in the first round and put two balls in the drink for a triple bogey in the second, making him 13 over par for the hole and 11 under for the other 17.

It will come as no comfort to him that he was still a long way from the highest score the the 17th has seen.

In 1985 Angelo Spagnolo, a 31-year-old grocery store manager, played there in the “America’s Worst Golfer” contest.

He put 27 balls in the water before being told by officials to putt round the lake and over the narrow path to the green.

He finished with a card-wrecking 66 and after negotiating the difficult 18th handed in a round of 257.

Not surprisingly, he won the title.

Donald breathed a huge sigh of relief when he made the carry and two-putted and in the short break between rounds said: “It was very different with the wind obviously.

“It feels like we’ve had all four seasons here this week, but I’m very happy with how I finished, especially after a double bogey on 14.”

Heading straight to the first tee to begin the concluding 18 holes he added: “Now I’ve just got to try to do it again and see what happens.”

Westwood knew his chance had gone. “That was a good finish, wasn’t it?” said the Worksop golfer, who had been a shot off the lead after the first and second rounds.

Harrington, runner-up the past two years, dropped six shots in the last five for a 77 and crashed to joint 67th on one over.

After bogeys at the 14th, 15th, 16th the Dubliner was in the water for the second day running on the 17th – he had never previously gone in – and then drove in the lake on the 18th as well.

He did superbly well to avoid a second successive double bogey there, getting down in two from 180 yards, but had fallen out of the hunt.

Darren Clarke was only one better off after a double bogey on the 18th and then a triple bogey at the sixth, where he drove horribly right and took five to make the green.