But the 27-year-old from Milton Keynes soon doubled his advantage with a birdie on the first and a brilliant eagle on the second to move to 15 under par.

Poulter, who has been battling a bout of tonsillitis all week, holed from 15 feet on the first and then was just four feet away from an albatross on the second.

The par five measures a daunting 613 yards, but the second half of the hole is so steeply downhill that Poulter was able to reach the green with a drive and long iron.

His approach pitched just over a bunker guarding the front of the green and was heading for the hole before pulling up just four feet short of the hole to set up the easiest of eagle putts.

Price had also reached the green in two but did well to two-putt from long range for birdie, and at 11 under reclaimed second place outright from South African Darren Fichardt who had birdied the first two holes but bogeyed the third.

Much earlier in the day, France’s Christian Cevaer had equalled the course record with a 65 containing 10 birdies, three bogeys and just five pars over the Wentwood Hills course.

Cevaer only made the halfway cut on the mark of one under par after rounds of 71 and 72 at Celtic Manor, and was in the second group out this morning at 6.58am.

Playing this season on a full medical exemption after fracturing his elbow joint and damaging ligaments and tendons in a skiing accident in January last year, the 33-year-old failed to card a single par on his front nine.

Birdies at the first three holes were followed by a bogey on the fourth, a birdie at the fifth followed by another bogey on the next, and further birdies on the seventh and eighth rounded off with a dropped shot on the ninth.

That took him to the turn in 33 and when he picked up further shots on the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th, the former junior world champion needed just one more birdie to claim the course record outright.

However, he failed to take advantage of the par-five 18th and had to settle for a 65 which equalled the lowest round of his European Tour career.

Cevaer said: “It was a funny round, I didn’t have a par until the 10th, but equalling the course record is fantastic.

“I have had a difficult time after breaking my elbow and taking a year off. I’ve had to be very patient and still have to be but it is nice every so often to get some rewards.

“The elbow is not 100%, I can’t straighten it totally. I can straighten it enough to swing the club well and it’s not so bad as it makes me put in quality time instead of quantity.”

1 POULTER, Ian ENG 5 -15

2 FICHARDT, Darren RSA 7 -13

T3 MOSELEY, Jarrod AUS 18 -12

T3 PRICE, Phillip WAL 5 -12

5 JACOBSON, Fredrik SWE 11 -11

T6 COLTART, Andrew SCO 9 -10

T6 LOMAS, Jonathan ENG 8 -10

T6 MCNULTY, Mark ZIM 7 -10