Spaniard Carlos Del Moral knocked two strokes off his previous best European Tour round and was in control of the Madeira Islands Open with a round to go.
The 26-year-old from Valencia, with a previous highest finish of fifth on the circuit, charged from five behind to three in front with a sparkling nine-under-par 63.
Del Moral, ranked 397th in the world, reached 17 under par on a day to forget for former Ryder Cup player Oliver Wilson. Hoping for his first victory after an amazing nine runners-up finishes, Wilson led at halfway, but managed only a 72 and is now four back in joint third.
Joakim Lagergren is second on 14 under following a 70, with his fellow Swedes Mikael Lundberg and Magnus Carlsson, Wilson and Portugal's Ricardo Santos one further back.
Del Moral took over at the top with six birdies in an outward 30 and then finished with three more birdies to march clear of the field.
Wilson did not have a single bogey in opening with rounds of 66 and 65, but mixed three with three birdies, the last of those on the final green at least boosting his confidence entering the final day. Del Moral had just 22 putts in his round and said: "It was incredible. I putted beautifully. I had nine holes in a row – the entire front nine – with only one putt. And the ones that I missed were so close to going in.
"It was tough mentally on the back nine. I have been working on my swing for a while and this is the first time I've been up there in a tournament and it feels like it is in place. Last week at the Spanish Open I played well, but didn't putt well. I'm very excited about the final round. I've been up there before a few times and didn't perform as well as I'd hoped, but I'm a much more mature player now and I am looking forward to it."
Tour rookie Lagergren said: "I was a little nervous on the first tee, but that soon went away. My putter was ice cold and I missed a few short ones. I'll have to go on the hunt tomorrow. I've shot 66 the first two rounds, so I know there are low scores out there. Carlos is three ahead, but that's not a lot in a final round."
Gary Orr was the leading Scot after his 68 left him on 10 under and tied 12th. One shot further back was Alastair Forsyth who shot a 70, the same score as Chris Doak who was on eight under.
o Holland's Christel Boeljon is on course to retain the Turkish Airlines Open after a third round 69 in Antalya.
The 24-year-old, who began the European Ladies Tour season with victory in Australia, goes into the final day seven under par, two ahead of Finns Minea Blomqvist and Ursula Wikstrom.
Boeljon, joint halfway leader with Wikstrom, eagled the fourth in a front nine 33 and then had a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th for the second day running.
Instead of adding a fourth in a row again, however, she double-bogeyed the 14th and saw her lead cut in half.
Blomqvist's fourth birdie of the day on the 15th made the gap only one, but she then bogeyed two holes later and had to settle for a three-under 70.
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