Ludvig Åberg will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the 2021 European Amateur Championship.
A difficult Round 3 at golf du Médoc Resort in France saw the course get firmer, the pin positions get trickier, and the wind get stronger compared to the first two days.
The Swedish player wasn't able to repeat his course-record breaking feat from Day 2, but managed to card his third consecutive under-par round. A birdie at the last was enough for a round of 70 (-1) for the 21-year-old, despite making his first four bogeys of the tournament.
"I didn't play as well as I did the first two days." Said Åberg after his round. "But I'm pretty proud of how I handled it, I'm proud of how I finished being pretty tired. It's a new day tomorrow, and I'm actually in the lead still so that's pretty good. Finishing with a birdie is huge, dinner's gonna taste a little bit better, sleep's gonna be a little bit better, it's definitely something to build on."
Christoffer Bring, who started the day two shots behind Åberg, chipped-in for eagle on the par-5 10th hole to start a back-nine charge. The Dane briefly took the lead in Round 3 after holing a 12-metre putt for birdie on the tricky par-4 16th, but dropped a shot on the 18th to move back to -16. Bring will enter the final round with a one stroke deficit as he looks to follow in the footsteps of Nicolai Hojgaard and become the second Danish champion in the last four years.
David Puig was the top performer of the late starters on Friday. The Spaniard birdied the last four holes on his way to a 65 (-6), moving him up into third position and just two strokes behind Åberg on -15.
Joel Moscatel, who played in the final group alongisde the leading Scandinavians in Round 3, is still in contention after a round of 69 (-2). The Spaniard is just four shots behind on -13, and will look to become the first Spanish winner of the event since Sergio Garcia in 1995. Moscatel will play alongside Puig in an all-Spanish penultimate pairing on Saturday.
Former Jacques Léglise Trophy player, Kiet Van der Weele, is in contention for a spot on the podium. The Dutchman carded his third consecutive round in the 60s on Friday to climb into the top-5 on -12.
The lowest round of the day went to Germany's Yannick Schuetz, who made two eagles on the back-side of the Chateaux Course at Golf du Médoc in a round of 64 (-7).
64 players made the 54-hole cut, which finished at -1.
It's all to play for in Saturday's final round, with a spot at The 149th Open on offer for the winner. Livescoring, and the Round 4 tee times can be found on the European Amateur Championship Event Page.