At £1m (€1.46m) the first prize there is the biggest in golf, but it is going to take something really special for Harrington to make it after a third round 71 left him outside the top 30 with 18 holes to go.

“I’ve got to play very well now, but I’ve still got a possibility,” he said after sinking birdie putts of 25 and 15 feet on the last two greens. “These are the things you have to try to do.”

At two under par Harrington was eight strokes adrift of new leader Henrik Stenson.

The Swede eagled the long fourth to jump to 10 under and was one ahead of overnight pacesetters Graeme McDowell and Phillip Price and English trio Barry Lane, Mark Foster and Simon Wakefield.

Another player ahead of Harrington was 50-year-old Sam Torrance, who stood four under after a 69 on his return to the European tour.

Not so happy – in fact, far from it – was fellow Scot Paul Lawrie, Europe’s last winner of a major title. He continued his sorry season with a 75 to drop to five over.

And it almost went unnoticed. First man out and teeing off on his own at 7.30am Lawrie went round the Duke’s Course in just two hours 40 minutes.

There were still just a handful of spectators were by the 18th green as he finished five holes ahead of the group behind.

The Aberdeen golfer is a lowly 147th on this year’s Order of Merit, having failed to produce a single top 30 finish and had qualified for the final two rounds right on the limit of one over par.

Five years ago Lawrie not only triumphed at Carnoustie – after Jean Van de Velde had triple-bogeyed the final hole to fall into a play-off – but made an impressive Ryder Cup debut in Boston.

He was Colin Montgomerie’s partner there and as well as losing only one of their four games together he beat Jeff Maggert in the singles.

Lawrie finished the season sixth on the money list, was ninth in 2001 and 10th the following year.

Montgomerie picked him as his wild card for the Seve Trophy last November, but he has gone into sharp decline since.

He was not the only player who found himself playing solo today. The same happened to fellow Scot Gary Orr when Yorkshireman’s Simon Dyson pulled out after seven holes because of a neck injury. He was two over at the time.

The Heritage Leaderboard

10 under - Henrik Stenson (Swe) (after 40 holes)

9 under – Simon Wakefield (42)

Mark Foster (41)

Barry Lane (41)

Patrik Sjoland (Swe) (40)

Graeme McDowell (39)

Phillip Price (39)

8 under – Mikko Ilonen (Fin) (50)

Alastair Forsyth (48)

7 under – Carlos Rodiles (Spa) (45)