Victor Perez and Matt Wallace will head into the final day of the Dutch Open at the top of a congested leaderboard after a testing third round at Bernardus Golf.
In gusting winds on the links-style layout, Perez signed for a 69 to set the target as he chases a second DP World Tour victory, only to see four-time winner Wallace birdie the last to complete a 70 and join him at 10 under.
In-form Kiwi Ryan Fox, Australian Scott Hend, Italy’s Guido Migliozzi and Swede Sebastian Soderberg were then at nine under, a shot clear of another Swede in Alexander Björk, Portugal’s Ricardo Gouveia and Pole Adrian Meronk.
The top 15 players were separated by just five shots, with 13 different nationalities represented within that top 15.
JC Ritchie is the best-placed South African, on three under and tied for 22nd.
As well as having the chance to win the trophy this week, the top three inside the top 10 not already exempt will earn a spot in The Open, with Perez, Wallace and Fox currently set for St Andrews.
Since winning his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Frenchman Perez has finished second in three Rolex Series events and finished in the top five at two World Golf Championships. He has one top 10 and five made cuts from six events so far this season.
Wallace claimed four wins in 16 months from May 2017, finishing in the top 10 on the DP World Tour Rankings in 2018 and 2019. He has had five runner-up finishes since winning the 2018 Made in Denmark.
Hend was the man to make the first big move, combining an eagle on the par-five 4th set up by a stunning driver off the deck to four feet with birdies on the 3rd, 5th and 6th to join the lead.
He soon found himself two back as overnight-leader Gouveia also eagled the 4th after putting his second to nine feet but the 2015 European Challenge Tour No 1 bogeyed the 5th, 6th and 9th to make it a four-way tie as the final group reached the turn.
Soderberg set the target at nine under as some wonderful approach play left him less than 10 feet for birdie at the 1st, 4th, 9th, 10th and 12th, while he also holed lengthy putts on the 14th and 15th to go with three bogeys in a 68.
Meronk made a mess of the second with a double-bogey but birdies on the 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th put him on top, where he was soon joined by Perez.
The 29-year-old holed out for a birdie from 38 yards on the 1st with a little help from the pin and added further gains after driving the green at the 3rd and recovering from a poor tee shot at the 4th.
Dropped shots followed at the 5th and 9th but Perez almost drove the 10th, made a two-putt birdie on the par-five 12th and holed from 48 feet on the next to lead on his own.
A bogey on the next put him back in a share but Meronk found water at the 17th and a triple-bogey sent him tumbling down the leaderboard, leaving Perez alone at the top.
Wallace had made a good start as he holed a 17-footer on the 3rd and then got up and down for birdie on the 4th but he dropped shots on the 5th and 7th to turn in level par.
A two-putt birdie from just off the 12th green had the 32-year-old within one and he made a smart up-and-down on the last to join the lead.
Hend had double-bogeyed the 14th but birdied the last in a 68, while Fox and Migliozzi both signed for rounds of 70.
Meronk birdied the last to sign for a 72, Gouveia carded a 71 and Björk recorded a 70.
– This is an edited report from the DP World Tour website
