Spain's Rafael Cabrera-Bello continued his impressive recent form as the BMW International Open resumed in Munich.
Cabrera-Bello, who has finished fourth, 13th and second in his last three events on The European Tour, carded an opening 65 at Golfclub München Eichenried to share the overnight lead with England's Daniel Gaunt and Denmark's Lasse Jensen.
The 31 year old picked up where he left off in the second round, carding a five under par 67 for a 12 under total and two shot clubhouse lead.
Cabrera-Bello bogeyed the 72nd hole in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Open to miss out on a play-off and could only manage a closing 72 when entering the final round of the Lyoness Open just two off the lead.
But birdies on the 12th, 13th, 16th and 18th - having started from the tenth – saw him reach the turn in 32, before heading for home with gains on the first and second. His birdie on 18 was all the more remarkable as he found water with his approach before chipping in.
Several further chances went begging on the way in and a bogey from sand on the eighth spoiled his card slightly, but Cabrera-Bello was still pleased with his day’s work.
“Another good round; I played really solid on the back nine, which was my front nine,” he said. “I made a few sloppy swings on the front nine, a couple of misread putts, but overall it was very satisfying.
“The competition is very hard and there are lots of good players. Everyone can score very low around here, so you need a little bit of luck and I got my fair bit of luck.
“I’m exblockquoted because I'm in a good position. I'm in a place where I want to be. Rafa Cabrera-Bello
“I feel things are going my way and hard work is paying off, but I’m aware that it's only been two days. There's still a lot of golf to play and we will see what happens.”
Northern Ireland’s Hoey and Dane Jensen had both birdied the 18th to post rounds of 65 and 69 respectively to share second on ten under par.
"I knew the greens would be better today and I putted well,” said Hoey, a five-time European Tour winner.
“There was an opportunity today to shoot seven under and I did that.
"The cut has been six under here before and although they have lengthened the course and it's tougher now, you have to score well no matter what.
"Someone is going to be 24 under so you have to be aggressive, which is quite good. It's quite enjoyable to go at it and get stuck in."
