Price has edge in Masters duel with Poulter

In a game of fine margins there is no more galling dividing line than the one between 10th place on the Ryder Cup qualification table, which ensures an opportunity to play in the most high-profile event in golf, and 11th, which does not. With the postponement of last year's match until this September, the distinction has been prolonged for Phillip Price and Ian Poulter.

Today's final round of the Victor Chandler British Masters represents some sort of showdown between the 35-year-old Welshman and the 2000 rookie of the year. Price, ending his run of holes without a bogey at 49 after dropping a shot at the last, leads by one after a 68 to Poulter's 67 in the third round on the Marquess course.

But joining Price and Poulter in the final threeball will be Justin Rose, a week-long house guest of Poulter. Rose, on 12 under three behind Price, has been helping to look after the four-month-old Aimee-Leigh Poulter, but still managed a 65 yesterday, when for the third day running he limited himself to just one dropped shot. "It's the first time I've played with Ian on Tour so why not in the last group at a tournament like this?" Rose said.

Amazingly, the name of Hansen is on the leaderboard again, with Soren of that ilk, after a 67, sharing third place with Rose and Gary Evan. Hansen is not related to, but is a great friend of, Anders Hansen, who spectacularly stole the Volvo PGA Championship away from better-known names at Wentworth last week.

The two Hansens have always fed off each other, the one catching up quickly whenever the other has forged ahead but it would be a remarkable Danish double should the 28-year-old from Copenhagen win his maiden title today.

What unites Price, Poulter and Rose is that they are looking for a first win on British soil. Price has won twice in Portugal in eight years. Poulter won in Italy and Morocco in his first two years as on Tour. Despite turning pro immediately after his dramatic amateur show in the Open at Birkdale in 1998, Rose won for the first time only this year but now has two victories in South Africa and another in Japan.

A win nearer to home would be appreciated by all three but none is closer to home than Poulter, who lives five miles away in Milton Keynes. He and Rose often share hotel rooms but this week are enjoying home comforts. "It's nice to be able to put the kettle on for a cup of tea whenever you want," Rose said.

"My record in Britain is not great," added Rose, who missed the Benson and Hedges and the PGA. "It was nice to play well today in front of my father. This week I was determined to cut out some of the distractions and keep focused." Rose, remarkably mature at 21, describes his season so far as "crazy". As well as three wins, two weeks ago he finished a shot outside the Woods-Montgomerie playoff at the Deutsche Bank Open. "I have either missed the cut or finished really high up," he said. That is in contrast to his 21 successive missed cuts to start his professional career. "This is much more fun," he said.

An aim of many of the English (and Swedish) players this week was to get into the last groups today and so get to see a certain World Cup match this morning. With a large field making the cut the weekend play has been in threeballs and so necessitating an earlier start. Rose will watch what he can of the game, dismissing those who suggest it would be inappropriate prior to a round. "They're wimps," he declared.

There have been many alternative attractions this bank holiday weekend but a wander through Aspley Woods, the delightful setting for the Marquess course, on a glorious early-summer afternoon was far from the least pleasant.

Rose birdied the first four holes, chipping in from 20 yards at the third. Sandy Lyle ended alongside Colin Montgomerie at nine under.