Julien Sale will take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Grand Final as he edged closer to becoming the second Frenchman to top the Road to Mallorca Rankings.
The one-time HotelPlanner Tour winner, who entered the week seventh on the season-long race, carded a two under par third round of 70 to move to 15 under par, one-stroke clear of England’s Charlie Forster, American John Catlin and South African MJ Daffue.
Starting the day with a one-stroke advantage, Sale settled with an opening birdie before registering three consecutive pars. The testing fifth would prove troublesome, however, with a bogey dropping the 29-year-old back down a congested leaderboard.
A loose tee shot on the par five seventh threatened to halt his progress further, but after taking an unplayable lie, Sale would produce an impressive approach from the trees to save an unlikely par.
Having turned at level par, the 2026 Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge winner picked up his second birdie of the day on the 11th before adding one more gain on the 15th to pull clear at the top.
"It was tougher today with the wind. It was a lot trickier, but I hung in there," he said.
"The front nine played tough but I managed to make a few birdies on the back nine and finish under par to keep the lead so I’m happy with today."
Sale is currently projected to top the Road to Mallorca Rankings and follow in the footsteps of his compatriot Mike Lorenzo-Vera, who ended the 2007 campaign as Number One. Should he win the Grand Final he would also become the fifth Frenchman to do so after Clément Sordet (2017), Benjamin Hébert (2014), Lorenzo-Vera (2007) and Nicolas Joekimides (1997).
"Patience is important out there, especially on the front nine as it’s the harder of the two nines. You know the back nine is going to present opportunities," he added.
"Unfortunately, the putter wasn’t as hot as I would’ve liked but I still made a few and I’m happy with the way I handled myself today."
Forster made the most notable charge on moving day, mixing seven birdies with one dropped shot to sign for an impressive six under par 66. The Englishman is embarking on his rookie HotelPlanner Tour season and will become the first player from the Global Amateur Pathway Rankings to earn promotion to the DP World Tour via the Road to Mallorca.
"I hit the ball really well off the tee again so set up those opportunities was really key out there," he said.
"I’ve been trying to pick small targets, miss small and keep myself below the hole, that’s been the key out there.
"I can’t wait to get out there tomorrow. I’ve got a lot of family and friends watching so I’m sure they’re going to be up for it too. I’m just going to treat it as a normal tournament and if it happens there’s a great reward at the end."
Denmark’s Hamish Brown, who started the week in the Number One berth, holds solo fifth on 13 under par, one stroke ahead of Italian Matteo Cristoni, Scot Marc Warren, Spaniard Joseba Torres and Dutchman Lars van der Vight.
