Gary Boyd's third round 63 saw him take control of the CASTELLÓ MASTERS Costa Azahar as he equalled the Club de Campo del Mediterráneo course record.
The Challenge Tour graduate's eight under par round took him to 14 under for the week, two shots clear of the chasing pack.
"I got a few birdies early doors and was obviously climbing up the leaderboard pretty quickly," said Boyd.
"I hit a great drive at 11 made birdie there but made great saves at ten and 12. Nice to be top of the leaderboard going into Sunday."
The 24 year old Englishman is enjoying an impressive rookie season on The European Tour and will now have a maiden title in his sights after three top-ten finishes in his last six events, including being narrowly edged into second by Peter Hanson at the Czech Open.
Asked what he had done with the €426,000 he has earned in the last two months alone - he could add another €333,330 with victory on Sunday - he replied: "I've bought myself a house - wish I'd bought a bit of a bigger one now! The next plan is to buy one abroad."
After four birdies helped him to turn in 32, Boyd picked up further shots on the 11th and 13th before brilliantly driving the green at the 365 yard 14th and sinking a 20 foot putt for a memorable eagle two.
"At that point I was thinking 59," admitted Boyd. "I was saying to my caddie ‘four more birdie chances' but it wasn't to be.
"It suits me really well that hole, I knew I had enough power to get over the water."
Sweden's Christian Nilsson and Italian teenager Matteo Manassero share second place on 12 under par after rounds of 66 and 67 respectively, with England's Richard Finch (67), Ireland's Peter Lawrie (67) and Spain's Alvaro Velasco (68) another two shots further back.
The highlight of Nilsson's round was a 20 foot birdie putt at the par three sixth, while 17 year old Manassero continues to impress and sunk lengthy birdie putts on the seventh and 17th.
Boyd's compatriot John Parry, a winner at the Vivendi Cup 2010 last month, was among those on nine under after setting the course record with his own eight under 63, only for his roommate Boyd to match his effort.
Boyd said: "John's been doing fantastic the last few weeks and we've been feeding off each other and trying to move up the Order of Merit every week and it seems to be working.
"There's three or four of my friends out here have won and I'm the only one who's left out at the moment."
A repeat of his third round display on Sunday and he will surely not have long to wait.
