IN A game that so often rewards the workaholic, it is a relief when less turns out to be more. Ross Fisher and Graeme McDowell have shown in this week’s European Open that the key to success need not be turned with blistered hands. Fisher did not bother with a practice round on Wednesday, shot 63 on Thursday and still has the lead on 16 under par. McDowell eased up on his schedule after winning in Korea three months ago and is reaping the rewards as he enters what can be a taxing stretch of the season.

The two who have led the way at the London Club since almost the opening shot will be the protagonists in today’s final round. McDowell, cursing the loss of two strokes in his last three holes yesterday, is on 13 under after a 71. The veteran South African, David Frost, is three strokes further back.

Fisher, who carded a 69, proved in last year’s KLM Open that he knows how to win but a wire-to-wire victory here would make up for the 2007 BMW PGA Championship, where he was third-round leader but contrived to close with an 84. “The Wentworth thing was bitterly disappointing,” he said. “But I took a lot from that, and I showed great character by going on to win in Holland. I showed myself I can compete.”

He and McDowell were neck and neck until the last hole of a windswept third round where Fisher’s birdie made him the beneficiary of a two-shot swing. Both took on the dogleg that wraps itself around a menacing lake, but only the Englishman stayed on dry land. “I’m not quite as long as he is and I didn’t get away with it,” said McDowell.

They said the London Club would be a soft touch for Europe’s finest, a view lent credence by the first- and second-round scores, so the arrival of its main defence, a powerful westerly wind, added a welcome complication. Carved from the hills of Kent’s North Downs, this Jack Nicklaus-designed challenge is built on the highest point in the county.

The long holes were reduced to a pitch and putt, quite literally in many cases. On the 548-yard 15th, Padraig Harrington’s wedge set up an eagle chance that he converted from 15 feet. On the par-four 16th, his drive travelled more than 400 yards. That he finished only with a 69, for five under, reflected the flipside of those conditions, which affected even his putting. “There were a lot of crosswinds and you had to go with the wind rather than the line,” said the Irishman.

All of which was good news for those with an eye on this month’s Open Championship. The Heritage Course is by no means a links venue but it is rock solid in parts and the distant rough is tall and wispy. “It’s a good forerunner for The Open,” added Harrington, who says he is in better form than in the build-up to last year’s triumph at Carnoustie. “Ideally, you would have this and the French Open, which is quite linksy, but this is pretty decent preparation. The ball really does bounce around the greens. It is as close as a parkland course is going to get.”

Colin Montgomerie’s visor, a sponsored garment he seems to remove only at bedtime, blew off on the second hole, never to return. For the next 10 holes, during which he surrendered not a single stroke, you wondered whether he might try the new look more often. That, though, was as long as his composure lasted, a bogey at the par-four 13th causing him to lose the head as well as the hat. The Scot, who finished second in last week’s French Open, then bogeyed 16 and 17, before pulling his drive into water at the last. That cost him a bogey, a round of 73, and a 10-shot deficit to make up.

If Montgomerie was in a bad mood, he was not the only one. Sergio Garcia has been in high spirits this week but could not contain his frustration on the 13th tee. He had been on one under for the day when a spectator shouted at the top of his backswing, the result of which was an ugly push with his driver. He required five more strokes to card a double-bogey, after which he slipped to a 74, for seven under par. “It was three guys, and they must have been drunk,” said Garcia. “I’m very disappointed because I felt I was doing well. It put me a little bit behind the eight ball.”