Holland's Joost Luiten put himself in pole position to make up for the disappointment of missing out on the Ryder Cup in the ISPS Handa Wales Open.
Luiten, considered for a wild card by European captain Paul McGinley, carded a third round of 65 at Celtic Manor to turn a one-shot deficit into a two-shot lead over Ireland's Shane Lowry.
He ended the day on 14 under, putting good distance between himself and the three Ryder Cup players left in the field.
Welshman Jamie Donaldson was best placed on eight under after a 68, with Lee Westwood three under after a 68 which featured a birdie-eagle finish. Thomas Bjorn fired a level-par 71, made up of 18 straight pars to remain two under.
Luiten made birdies at the first, third and fifth with playing partner Lowry responding on the second, third and sixth
But while Lowry could then only manage a string of 12 consecutive pars, Luiten birdied three of the last four holes to continue his superb recent form.
The 28-year-old was fourth in the Italian Open, the last qualifying event for the Ryder Cup, and after being overlooked for a wild card two days later, finished fifth in the defence of his KLM Open title on home soil last week.
"If you had these last couple of events counting for Ryder Cup qualification maybe I have a chance, but you know when the date ends and the qualification stops and you have to play well before that and I didn't do that," Luiten said.
"I'm just happy that I'm playing good again and just want to keep going again. I'm happy with a good score. I played solid, consistent, hit a lot of greens and holed some nice putts to start with.
"I didn't really make a lot in the middle part, but came back strong at the end with three birdies on the last four holes."
France's Gregory Havret carded a 66 to lie three shots off the lead on 11 under alongside former champion Thongchai Jaidee, who shot 67.
Scotland's Marc Warren continued his progress up the leaderboard repeating his second-round 67 to be nine under par, five shots off the lead and tied sixth.
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