Strange name leading at Celtic Manor

Open champion Harrington crashed out of Celtic Manor when a second round 74 sent him to his first missed cut on European soil since October 2006 and Strange - a 31-year-old from Perth ranked 164th in the world - is the man the rest were trying to catch after marvellous rounds of 63 and 66 on the newly unwrapped lay-out.

At 13 under par he leads the race for the £300,000 winner's cheque by four from English pair Benn Barham and Robert Dinwiddie, Spain's Alvaro Velasco and Indian Jeev Milkha Singh.

Former winner Robert Karlsson, third in each of the last three tournaments and with a point to prove after three-putting from three feet on the final green at Wentworth on Sunday when still in with a chance to win, is in the group one further back.

Two wins on the Asian Tour have been the highlight of Strange's professional career so far, but in his first full season as a European Tour member he has already finished joint runner-up at the Johnnie Walker Classic in India.

"I'd love to win on every tour and to win here would be fantastic," he said. "Playing in Asia is different to here, but I'm adapting quite well."

Colin Montgomerie's 68 for five under, one better than Darren Clarke, meant he was not out of the running, although it needs a major effort over the weekend just to get into the hunt.

But last year's winner Richard Sterne and runner-up Bradley Dredge were heading out along with Harrington.