The chasing trio had given themselves a chance of breaking a 78-year European drought in the championship since Scotland's Tommy Armour won the tournament in 1930.

Yet Curtis, the 2003 Open champion, went into the rain-delayed fourth round with a one-shot lead over Sweden's Stenson and fellow American JB Holmes having fired a third-round, two-under-par 68 just 140 minutes previously.

Playing in three-man groups, and with the back markers starting on the 10th tee to try to get back on schedule after losing half the day's play to rain on Saturday, Curtis got off to a great start as playing partners Holmes and Stenson both found the trees to the left off the first tee.

Holmes' chances all but imploded there and then as he tried to punch the ball out from under a low-branched pine, only to advance it a couple of yards and take a penalty drop.

Holmes, the 36-hole leader, took a triple-bogey seven, Stenson managed to get up and down for par but Curtis patiently took a birdie to go to three under.

Garcia and Harrington were playing together with Charlie Wi, all three starting at one over par, with the Open champion making par and his two partners going to one under with birdies.

The Spaniard closed the gap on the par-five second with an eagle to move to within a shot of Curtis, and had a chance to move level with the American with a brilliant recovery shot at the seventh after driving wide to the right.

In gusting winds and increasingly heavy rainfall Garcia buried the birdie putt to move to three under after six with Curtis having played five alongside Stenson, who had birdied the second to move to one under.

Harrington, who had bogeyed the fifth, got back to even for the tournament with a birdie at six.