Home favourite Lucas Bjerregaard will take a two-shot lead into the final round of the Danish Golf Championship after making 10 birdies and no bogeys across 28 holes on a mammoth third day at Lübker Golf Resort.
After being forced to leave the course just before the turn as high winds suspended play on Friday night, two-time DP World Tour champion Bjerregaard hit the ground running when the second round resumed on Saturday morning.
He made five birdies on the back nine – including three on the spin from the 10th – to hold a two-shot lead at the halfway stage.
And the Dane picked up where he left off when the third round began, following up an opening birdie with four gains in five holes at the start of the back nine to sign for a sparkling 66 and reach 12 under par.
Romain Langasque was his nearest challenger on 10 under, with Danish amateur Jacob Skov Olesen alone in third another shot further back.
South Africa’s Thomas Aiken shared 11th position on six under after a round of 68 that included four birdies and a bogey, with countrymen Oliver Bekker and JJ Senekal on four under and three under respectively.
Bjerregaard began his third round in style, making a 20-foot birdie from off the first green to reach eight under.
He then reeled off eight successive pars, surrendering the lead as his rivals made the most of benign scoring conditions.
But, just as he had done earlier in the day, Bjerregaard produced his very best form at the start of the homeward nine to get back on top.
He rode his luck at the 10th, clipping branches with his approach shot before making a birdie.
And he made it two gains in a row from seven feet at the 11th to close the gap on Langasque to a single shot.
Bjerregaard then got up and down at the 12th for a hat-trick of birdies and a share of the lead on 12 under.
And when Frenchman Langasque dropped his first shot of the day at the 14th, Bjerregaard found himself alone at the top of the leaderboard.
Bjerregaard stretched his advantage to two strokes with a four-foot birdie at the long 14th before parring his way home to stay on top.
“A bogey-free round is never bad,” he said. “Especially with the finish we have out here. I’m very happy. I played solid.
“I had a bit of a stretch mid-round where I had some good up-and-downs to keep the round going, then I got on a bit of a birdie run at the start of the back nine, so that’s nice.”
Bjerregaard has enjoyed success on the DP World Tour, having won the Portugal Masters in 2017 and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship a year later, but he is currently plying his trade on the European Challenge Tour.
Sunday undoubtedly represents a big opportunity for him but the 33-year-old has vowed to keep taking things one day at a time.
“I think I’ve been in a different position this year than I’ve been used to. I don’t have very good status on the Challenge Tour so I’ve been playing on invites and top-tens and so on.
“So I haven’t been able to plan very much so it’s been one day at a time. And I think that’s really what’s been working well for me so I’ll try to do that again tomorrow.”
Photo: Octavio Passos/Getty Images
