Thriston Lawrence will head into the final round of the 2022 Omega European Masters with a three-shot lead courtesy of a stunning 67 on Saturday.
The South African, who became the first winner of the DP World Tour era at the 36-hole Joburg Open in November, is in a strong position to claim his second victory of the 2022 campaign at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club after making five birdies and two bogeys in the third round to get to 17 under par.
An early start awaited Lawrence on day three, as he returned to the course at 07.40 to complete his second round after Friday's weather delay left him with four holes still to play.
He made a closing birdie at the 18th to start the third round one shot off the lead, and although he bogeyed the fifth, he bounced back with birdies at the sixth and ninth to grab a share of top spot.
Another bogey followed on the tenth before a run of three birdies in four holes from the 11th catapulted Lawrence into a four-shot lead.
The 25-year-old closed his round with four successive pars to sit three strokes clear of Matt Wallace after the Englishman's birdie-birdie finish.
Scott Jamieson and Richard Mansell were another shot further back on 13 under.
Lawrence made a patient start to his third round, opening with four straight pars before bogeying the fifth following an errant tee-shot.
He bounced straight back with a close-range birdie on the sixth before tapping in for another gain at the ninth.
The South African got into tree trouble off the tenth tee and managed to limit the damage to a bogey but with overnight leader Alejandro Cañizares also dropping a shot there, Lawrence maintained his share of the lead.
After sending his tee-shot at the short 11th to 20 feet, Lawrence rolled in the birdie putt to take the outright lead on 15 under.
He safely parred the 12th, and with Cañizares surrendering a double bogey there, Lawrence had a much more comfortable lead.
Lawrence then took advantage of the par-three 13th, holing his seven-foot birdie putt before making it back-to-back gains at the long 14th to jump to 17 under and move four clear of his nearest competitor.
He made a superb par save at the short 16th to maintain his huge advantage, and came agonisingly close to birdieing the last but had to settle for a par there.
Lawrence said: "I'm pleased. Being in that position around the lead, shooting a score under par is always nice.
"Happy with the way I played, very solid, made a few clutch putts.
"I’m confident going into tomorrow. It will be nice to see where we are after four rounds.
"(There is) a lot of golf to be played so just stick to the process, stick to the game plan, and just enjoy it."
Birdie-birdie finish 👏 @mattsjwallace will play in the final group tomorrow.#OEM2022 pic.twitter.com/HiruYsGsCi
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) August 27, 2022
Wallace reached the turn in 35 after mixing two birdies with two bogeys before producing some battling par saves on the back nine.
He closed his round with two consecutive birdies to grab outright second spot, and he was pleased with his finish.
"Good finish there, battled hard," said the four-time DP World Tour winner. "Felt like I let the tournament slip away a bit in the middle, had to dig deep and go into my catalogue of things to calm me down, relax and try to get on with the job.
"I made those two par putts, which were huge on the par fives. I’ve made a couple of eagles and birdies to catch up this week. Didn’t do that and in the end if I had birdied those two par fives and parred the rest I would have been happy, so I’m chuffed.
"I’ve been through a lot. I lost my game middle to end of last year, wasn’t practising. I realised that’s not how I was going to get better, had to sort that out, change a few things in my team. Not blaming them, just needed to change.
"I feel like I’m back. Feel like I’m nearly there and I’ve got different shots. I’m getting a bit emotional about it, but it means everything to me."
