That was too hot for Clarke to handle and even though a 67 was no disaster the Irishman dropped to third place, one behind Dubliner Peter Lawrie.

Hedblom has won only two of more than 350 Tour events in his career and after missing his last three halfway cuts took himself off to a near-deserted island in his home country to forget about the game for a while.

It seems to have done the trick. Needing to climb 40 places from his current 155th position on the money list to keep his card he now has a first prize of €300,000 and a two-year exemption in his sights.

By the time Clarke and Hedblom teed off they were part of an eight-way tie for the lead, but both birdied the first and then Hedblom sank a 15-footer for eagle from the fringe of the 570-yard second.

His only dropped shot came on the short 11th and he and Clarke were back level at that point, but he responded with three more birdies in the next five holes while Clarke had to be content with parring his way in.

Lawrie had thrown away the lead with a closing double bogey in his second round and was delighted to come back with a 65.

The mild-mannered Irishman was asked how angry he had been after that six and said: "For me, on a scale on one to 10 I was an eight - without showing it."

There was no punching of walls or kicking cats - "those days are gone" - just a determination to fight his way back into contention for a second Tour victory.

He did that with three birdies in the first four and much finished much better, holing from 15 feet for par at the 170-yard 17th and making a nine-footer for birdie on the last.

Joint fourth on 10-under are England's Sam Little and Kenneth Ferrie, Welshman Jamie Donaldson and Australian Terry Pilkadaris, who was in Melbourne on Tuesday morning when he learnt there was a place for him in the event.

Little, runner-up in the Czech Republic on his last start three weeks ago, equalled the day-old course record of 63 to move from 30th to fourth.