Adrian Meronk will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the 2022 Horizon Irish Open as he goes in search of his maiden DP World Tour title.
The Polish star saved his best until last on Moving Day at Mount Juliet Estate, producing a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th before closing with a par to sign for a sensational 68 and move to 14 under par.
The 29-year-old is enjoying a brilliant 2022, with six top-ten finishes to his name so far this season, including three in the month of May.
He sits at the top of a crowded leaderboard, with multiple winners Fabrizio Zanotti and Jorge Campillo just one shot back in a tie for second alongside Jack Senior who, like Meronk, is also chasing his first DP World Tour victory.
American John Catlin, who won this tournament in 2020, sits alongside Espen Kofstad on 12 under with defending champion Lucas Herbert another stroke further back.
Meronk began the day one shot off the lead but slipped back to nine under after dropping a shot at the second hole.
He holed from 35 feet for a bounce-back birdie on the third before picking up another shot at the fifth.
A delightful ten-foot putt on the eighth took Meronk to 12 under but he gave the shot back with a bogey at the long tenth.
Meronk's hot putter helped him make another birdie from 12 feet at the 13th before bunker trouble on the short 14th led to a third bogey of the day.
He recovered in style, though, rolling in from 20 feet for a birdie at the 15th before holing a monster putt from around 35 feet for another at the next.
And he took advantage of the long 17th from close range to make it three birdies in a row.
He came agonisingly close to sinking another lengthy putt at the last but he had to settle for a par there and a one-shot lead ahead of Sunday's final round.
Meronk said: "I'm just happy with my score so far. I played really solid again today and I can't wait for tomorrow.
"I'll just stay patient, try not to get ahead of myself, play my strategy, focus on my targets and I hope that'll be enough.
"I've been working on my commitment before every shot in the last couple of weeks and it seems like it's working pretty well this week.
"So I'll just keep doing that and we'll see what happens."
