Sunday 14 July 2019 16:41, UK
Bernd Wiesberger continued his fine form as he took a two-shot lead after the third round of the ASI Scottish Open.
On another low-scoring day in perfect conditions at The Renaissance Club in North Berwick, the Austrian carded a six-under 65 to move to 20-under 193.
South Africa's Erik van Rooyen leads the chasing pack on 18 under, with Frenchman Romain Langasque and Italy's Nino Bertasio two shots further back in a tie for third on 16 under.
A number of players just in behind, including Matt Wallace, Jamie Donaldson and Henrik Stenson, will also still fancy their chances of mounting a final-round challenge, but Rory McIlroy appears out of contention for the first prize back on 11 under.
Wiesberger, who shared the overnight lead with Van Rooyen and Lee Slattery after his 61 on Friday, made his first birdie of the day at the fifth and then raced clear of the field with a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh thanks to some excellent putting.
A steady start to the back nine saw him record five successive pars before a superb tee shot set up a birdie at the par-three 15th, which he followed with another gain at the 16th.
The 33-year-old missed a short putt to bogey the 17th but he bounced straight back with a birdie at the tough 18th following a brilliant approach shot.
Wiesberger, who finished second in last week's Irish Open after winning the Made In Denmark in May, said: "I'm enjoying being out there but am not looking ahead too far, there's still a lot of golf to be played.
"I caught a bit of fire before the turn with four birdies in five holes and, although it kind of stalled a bit, I was happy to get a couple more late in the round. I am quite pleased with the way I handled myself and finished off."
Van Rooyen, who is seeking his maiden European Tour title, recovered from a bogey at the third with five birdies for a 67, but Slattery could only manage a 70 to leave him in a share of fifth place on 15 under.
The highlight of Langasque's 65 was an eagle at the par-five 16th, while Bertasio had four birdies in his flawless 67.
Wallace has been steadily improving his score this week and he followed a 68 and 66 with a seven-under 64, which featured nine birdies and two bogeys, to climb to 15 under.
The Englishman now has his sights set on victory and leapfrogging Jon Rahm to retake the lead in the Race to Dubai standings.
"This week is important for me," he said. "I want to try and get back on No 1. Jon took that from me last week [by winning the Irish Open] so credit to him, he played great. So I took inspiration from that and I want to try and overtake him again now. That friendly rivalry is quite nice and hopefully I can give it a go tomorrow."
Donaldson was only one shot worse than Wallace with a 65 to also sit on 15 under and he has his eye on one of the three qualifying spots available for next week's Open.
The Welshman won the Irish Open at Royal Portrush in 2012 but is currently not in the field for next week's major at the same venue after being sidelined for seven months following wrist surgery.
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"I'll be keeping an eye on the leaderboard tomorrow, I really want that Open spot of course," he said. "But winning is more important than that, that's the primary goal. I just need to go out there and play like I played today and then I'll be buzzing."
Lorenzo Gagli of Italy and Spain's Adrian Otaegui both posted 67s to also move to 15 under.
Italian Andrea Pavan fired the round of the day - a nine-under 62 which included eagles at the first and seventh - to move into a three-way tie for 10th on 14 under with Matt Fitzpatrick (67) and Henrik Stenson (69).
Stenson's score could have been a lot better but he struggled with his putter and a double-bogey five at the 17th prevented him from starting a tournament with three bogey-free rounds for the first time in his career.
McIlroy's stop-start round saw him fail to birdie the par-five opening hole and he then dropped a shot at the second before recovering with four birdies in five holes from the fifth.
Back-to-back bogeys followed at the 11th and 12th but a strong finish saw him birdie both the 16th and 18th for a three-under 68.
Watch the final round of the ASI Scottish Open live on Sky Sports Golf from 3pm on Sunday.
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