Nathan Kimsey eagled the last to immediately bounce back from a double bogey and take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
The Englishman showed no signs of nerves as he led for the majority of the third round, before dropping his only two shots of the day on the par four 17th but responded with a sublime closing eagle to card a three under par 69 and lead by one on 13 under par.
Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg and Frenchman Robin Sciot-Siegrist share second place on 12 under par, with the latter looking to secure a spot in the Cazoo Open de France, as the French player with the most accumulative points through the Blot Open de Bretagne and this week at Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil.
Kimsey was delighted with the way he bounced back from the only blemish on his card and is now relishing the opportunity to compete for a maiden European Challenge Tour win in France.
“I made a bit of a mess of 17, it’s a really tough hole today, a long par four into the wind with a back flag,” he said. “It was great to come up 18, hit two quality shots in and not have to do too much on the green to make eagle.
“To drop a couple late on, you know you’re only going to be one off the lead if you make par up the last but you know tomorrow, with coming in last, you’re going to be a few groups back tomorrow, so it’s always nice to bounce back and make your way back into that final group.
“It was solid, no real fireworks all day really. It was tricky with the wind to really get shots close with quite a few flags at the back of the greens, it was tough to work it all the way back there. I hit a lot of quality shots to mid-range distance but didn’t manage to drop any.
“There’s always some nerves, especially when you haven’t won on Tour before, you’re always searching for that first one but you welcome that because it means you’re in a position to do something great. Hopefully I can deal with them tomorrow and post another good score.”
England’s Matt Baldwin and France’s Clément Sordet share fourth place on 11 under par, with German Freddy Schott two strokes back on nine under in sixth place.
The final round will begin at 7:40am local time on Sunday July 10, with Kimsey and Lundberg paired in the final group at 12:40pm.
