Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee holds a one shot lead going into the final round of the Porsche European Open after carding a seven under par 64 at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach.
The 45 year old carded eight birdies against a single bogey in his third round to climb 14 places up the leaderboard.
His 13 under par total was briefly passed by Ross Fisher, but the Englishman bogeyed the 15th and 16th after taking the lead with a 30 footer on the 11th.
He holds a share of second place along with Swede Pelle Edberg, who carded a best of the day 63, and compatriot Graeme Storm, who also reached 13 under par before finding water with his approach to the last.
Jaidee, a six-time European Tour winner, had four gains in an outward 31 before dropping his only shot of the day at the tenth.
Birdies at the 12th, 13th and 15th took Jaidee level with clubhouse leader Edberg, and he pitched close at the 16th before converting from five feet for the outright lead.
“I played solid all three rounds but today I putted much better,” said Jaidee.
“You have to have good tee shots here as the greens are tricky. I enjoy playing this course and my game is good right now.
“I’m confident and I hit a lot of good shots. The course is not very long so being in position is important.
“I’ve been confident with my irons and I’ve got a good score. Seven under is very good for me today - I’ve not had seven under for a long time.
“Normally I’ve been about four under par, but the greens are soft and I can attack the pins here.”
Storm holed a 25 foot bogey putt on the last to match Fisher’s round of 69, with Ryder Cup hero Jamie Donaldson, Finn Mikko Ilonen and Swede Magnus A Carlsson all tied for fifth on 11 under after matching rounds of 67.
“I felt like I played really well for 11 holes and had I under control,” said Fisher, who won this event in 2008 at the London Golf Club.
“Then I had a loose tee shot on 12 and couldn’t go for it in two, but still had a chance for birdie and then 16 was a poor tee shot, and I was unlucky with the lie. That was the tough one missing the green from that distance – it was criminal. I shouldn’t be doing that.
“It would mean a lot to win this trophy again. It’s great that the European Open is back on the schedule, Porsche is a great sponsor that have stepped up and there is so much history with the European Open.
“I’m fortunate to have won it before, and I’ve given myself a chance to win it again.”
Storm missed a host of birdie chances after making two gains in his first three holes, and said: “It could have been better today.
“I should have holed those putts on 11 and 12 but left them short; I seemed to do that quite a lot today.
“I was a bit disappointed to finish with a bogey on 18 but the way it panned out, it wasn’t a bad bogey in the end.
“It would mean everything to win. I’ve done well in European Open’s in the past. A close friend of mine, Kennie Ferrie, managed to win it in 2005 and I finished second so it would be good to bring it back to the north east.”
