Victor Perez and Matt Wallace will head into the final day of the 2022 Dutch Open at the top of a congested leaderboard after a testing third round at Bernardus Golf.
In gusting winds on the links-style layout, Perez signed for a 69 to set the target as he chases a second DP World Tour victory, only to see four-time winner Wallace birdie the last to complete a 70 and join him at ten under.
In-form Kiwi Ryan Fox, Australian Scott Hend, Italy's Guido Migliozzi and Swede Sebastian Soderberg were then at nine under, a shot clear of another Swede in Alexander Björk, Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia and Pole Adrian Meronk.
The top 15 players were separated by just five shots, with 13 different nationalities represented within that top 15.
As well as having the chance to win the trophy this week, the top three inside the top ten not already exempt will earn a spot in The 150th Open Championship this summer, with Perez, Wallace and Fox currently set for St Andrews.
Since winning his maiden DP World Tour title at the 2019 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, Frenchman Perez has finished second in three Rolex Series events and finished in the top-five at two World Golf Championships.
He has one top-ten and five made cuts from six events so far this season and was delighted to be truly in contention for the first time in 2022.
"I think everything has been firing relatively well," he said. "I think I have done everything quite well, mentally very solid, and I think the back nine we started off really well and then a bit of a stop over on 14 after a decent drive but that is one of those things where you just have to put it aside and keep going.
“I like it, I know some guys don’t like it and would rather be chasing than being in front. I mean, if you were to choose I would rather be in front all of the time, I think the mindset is the same regardless, I think the shots are the shots and you just have to hit them, maybe it takes a bit of the pressure of some of the guys but I would rather be in front if I can.”
Wallace claimed four wins in 16 months from May 2017, finishing in the top ten on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex in 2018 and 2019.
He has had five runner-up finishes since winning the 2018 Made in Denmark and he, like Perez, was happy to once again be right in the mix.
“That is what I kind of wanted to do," he said. "Start the day and try to get a bit closer to the leaders and that is what I did, tried to not give away too many shots. Got off to a really nice start those first couple of holes.
“I’m pleased with the way I hit it and yesterday I said that I needed to do that this weekend, and one day down, I need to do that again tomorrow.
"I started hitting some really good iron shots in the middle of that back nine, 13 and 16, the six-iron into there was probably the best shot I have hit strike-wise in a long time into that wind, it had to be the perfect shot and it was, so more of that tomorrow.”
Hend was the man to make the first big move, combining an eagle on the par-five fourth set up by a stunning driver off the deck to four feet with birdies on the third, fifth and sixth to join the lead.
He soon found himself two back as overnight leader Gouveia also eagled the fourth after putting his second to nine feet but the 2015 European Challenge Tour Number One bogeyed the fifth, sixth and ninth to make it a four-way tie as the final group reached the turn.
Soderberg set the target at nine under as some wonderful approach play left him less than ten feet for birdie at the first, fourth, ninth, tenth and 12th, while he also holed lengthy putts on the 14th and 15th to go with three bogeys in a 68.
Meronk made a mess of the second with a double-bogey but birdies on the sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth put him on top, where he was soon joined by Perez.
The 29-year-old holed out for a birdie from 38 yards on the first with a little help from the pin and added further gains after driving the green at the third and recovering from a poor tee-shot at the fourth.
Dropped shots followed at the fifth and ninth but Perez almost drove the tenth, made a two-putt birdie on the par-five 12th and holed from 48 feet on the next to lead on his own.
A bogey on the next put him back in a share but Meronk found water at the 17th and a triple-bogey sent him tumbling down the leaderboard, leaving Perez alone at the top.
Wallace had made a good start as he holed a 17-footer on the third and then got up and down for birdie on the fourth but he dropped shots on the fifth and seventh to turn in level par.
A two-putt birdie from just off the 12th green had the 32-year-old within one and he made a smart up-and-down on the last to join the lead.
Hend had double-bogeyed the 14th but birdied the last in a 68, while Fox and Migliozzi both signed for rounds of 70.
Meronk birdied the last to sign for a 72, Gouveia carded a 71 and Björk recorded a 70.
