Andrea Perrino took the outright lead as the leaders reached the turn in the third day of the Credit Suisse Challenge at Golf Sempachersee, a shot clear of Gary Stal and overnight co-leader Janne Mommo.
The 28 year old is chasing his first Challenge Tour win and did his chances no harm after opening with a birdie on the first hole before following that up with four successive pars.
Another birdie at the sixth then moved him into the lead in Switzerland before four more pars left him two under through ten holes and nine under par for the tournament.
In windy conditions, the two overnight leaders, Mommo and Houston, couldn’t make any progress on their nine under score with the Finn level par through ten while Houston was five over par for the day in the same group.
Stal started perfectly with back to back birdies on the opening two holes before a bogey at the fourth hole knocked him back, but another gained shot at the tenth left him two under for the day and one shot off the lead with seven left to play.
England’s Luke Goddard had moved into a tied lead earlier in the day after birdies at the first and fourth holes but he dropped shots at the sixth and seventh holes to fall two shots back.
