Local favourite Linn Grant will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed tournament.
The 22-year-old Swede fired a flawless 66, which included a tremendous eagle from 75 feet on the 11th and four birdies, to get to 16 under par and overtake halfway leader Jason Scrivener at the top.
Australian Scrivener had led for most of the day and found himself three shots clear at the turn, but he missed good chances to extend his advantage and a double-bogey at the short 16th had him falling from the summit.
A closing birdie handed Scrivener solo second spot on 14 under, while home hero and tournament co-host Henrik Stenson was alone in third another shot further back.
Grant only entered the paid ranks last year but is already a proven winner, having followed up her maiden Ladies European Tour victory at the Joburg Ladies Open in March with a second title at the Mithra Belgian Ladies Open two weeks ago.
She began the day two shots off the lead and pulled off a good par save at the 1st to remain at 10 under.
Her first birdie of the day came at the 3rd, courtesy of a well-controlled pitch out of the rough which set up a five-foot putt.
Grant made it back-to-back birdies at the short 4th, holing from eight feet to jump to 12 under.
After a run of six straight pars, Grant produced a shot-of-the-day contender at the par-five 11th, rolling in from 75 feet for a brilliant eagle to get within one shot of the lead.
After coming agonisingly close to making another birdie at the 13th, Grant also had to settle for a par on the 14th despite a remarkable bunker shot giving her a good birdie chance.
A birdie from 11 feet on the 15th handed Grant a share of the lead and, even though she could only manage pars at the 16th and 17th, she found herself alone at the top of the leaderboard due to Scrivener’s double-bogey.
And Grant finished with a birdie from inside five feet at the 18th to lead by two on 16 under par.
As the only woman in the top 15, Grant is flying the flag for the Ladies European Tour, and she is hoping to finish the job on Sunday.
“A very solid day again,” she said. “I really found my swing yesterday on the range, and this morning was a good warm-up, a bit stressed, but that is pretty much a good thing to me.
“I got out there and hit good drives; I think I hit pretty much every fairway, on the greens and solid putting.
“I think I practised throughout all my years playing as an amateur being in the same situation of being nervous and knowing how to handle that and get the best out of myself.
“I hope that people realise that we’re actually getting there, getting close to the guys and having the same journey the men have had for the last 30 or 40 years.
“To really just put women’s golf on the map a little bit more than it is at the moment, we can hit it far enough and close to the pin and hole some putts and do good scoring.”
– Report from DP World Tour website
