Lee Westwood will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Nordea Masters after keeping the chasing pack at bay in Stockholm.
A round of 68 was good enough for Westwood to maintain the advantage he had enjoyed at the halfway stage at Bro Hof Slott GC, although England's Ross Fisher rather than Swede Peter Hanson is now his nearest challenger.
Westwood finished the day on 16-under-par, with Fisher at 13 under after a superb 65 and Ryder Cup team-mate Hanson a further shot back after a battling 69.
"I played well, hit a lot of good shots and it was some solid stuff," Westwood said. "I didn't really get into too much trouble. I got a bit of a flier on the second and that was the only bogey I made all day."
Westwood had started in the perfect fashion with a birdie on the par-5 first, but that flier on the second saw him run up a bogey 5. The world No.3 bounced back quickly with a stunning approach to the par-3 fourth which finished just inches from the flag to set up the easiest of birdies.
A number of other chances went a-begging on the front nine before Westwood rolled in a hat trick of birdies from the 11th to ensure he would keep his nose in front following yesterday's superb 64.
"I did misread a couple of putts on the front nine, the one on five and the one on eight, but other than that I putted well," he added. "I've read the greens well this week and rolled in a couple of nice ones on the back nine.
"It [the weather] changed coming up 14, the breeze picked up a little bit and made 14, 15, 16 play a bit tricky. That's what happens around this golf course, it's quite exposed out there on the lake and it's no easy finish."
Westwood and Hanson played together for the third day running. Four birdies on the back nine helped him finish 12 under, but Fisher will partner Westwood today after his flawless 65. He put last week's one-shot penalty for slow play during the final round of the Wales Open firmly behind him, carding three birdies on the front nine and four on the back to storm up the leaderboard.
Scotland's Lloyd Saltman, joint second at the halfway stage, plummeted 30 places with a costly 75 which left him on 210. Peter Whiteford took over as the leading Scot after a tidy, three-birdie 69 lifted him to the fringes of the top 20 with a 209. Gary Orr, the only other home hopeful to survive the cut, had a 71 for 213.
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