PGA Championship: Thomas Bjorn pulls clear of Luke Donald

A back-nine charge from Thomas Bjorn gave the Dane a five-shot lead over Britain's Luke Donald after the third round of the BMW PGA Championship.

Bjorn, 43, picked up six straight birdies from the 11th in his five-under-par 67.

Donald, twice Wentworth champion, carded a 68 to be 10-under, one ahead of Irishman Shane Lowry.

Rory McIlroy is tied-fourth after a 69 and sits seven shots adrift.

After a slow start to his round, Bjorn kick-started his scintillating run - which ended two birdies short of the European Tour record - with a 30-foot effort at the 11th and had stormed well clear of the the field within the space of an hour.

The 15-time European Tour winner added a seventh back-nine birdie at the par-five 18th but said another sloppy start on Sunday could give Donald and others hope.

"There are a couple of names on that leaderboard who can't be counted out," he said, fully aware of Ryder Cup duo Donald and McIlroy's winning pedigree.

"I have to play some good golf and be smart and aggressive when I can be and keep them at arms' length. If I get off to a bad start it's a wide open tournament."

Former world number one Donald had a blemish-free card and finished birdie-birdie to book a final-round date with Bjorn, much to the Englishman's delight.

"It'll be nice to play in the final group tomorrow. I have him in my sights," said Donald.

McIlroy, who announced on Wednesday he had split from fiancée Caroline Wozniacki, posted a 10-under final-round at the 2010 Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow to register his first PGA Tour win and the Northern Irishman said something similar around the West Course would be required.

"I feel like a low one's in me, though I don't know if it'll be good enough because Thomas is already seven shots clear. I need to shoot something similar to what Thomas did on the first day," said the 25-year-old.