In a remarkable turnaround, six birdies in succession from Francois Calmels saw the Frenchman establish a two-shot lead as the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open reached a frantic, action-packed climax.
Overnight leader Adam Gee had led by two on reaching the turn in 34 blows, before a first drop of the day at the tenth for the Englishman coincided with Calmels’ extraordinary streak and saw the lead change hands in a matter of minutes.
With just a handful of holes to come, Calmels briefly went three clear of Gee before a bogey at the 15th, while the Londoner continued to struggle somewhat with four pars in a row from the 11th to remain one under for the day, 19 under for the tournament, and two shots off top spot.
That was a position held by three men as play continued, as Andrea Pavan made back-to-back birdies at the 14th and 15th to also reach 19 under par with Robert Dinwiddie, who reached seven under par for the day through 16 largely thanks to four back-to-back birdies from the 13th.
The 31 year old Parisian Calmels is bidding for a second tournament victory of the 2013 campaign, having already triumphed at April's Challenge de Madrid.
Elsewhere, Italy’s Nicolo Ravano holed in one with five iron from 226 yards at the short 17th to win a Peugeot 3008 car, while current Challenge Tour Number One Brooks Koepka made two eagles and six birdies en route to a magnificent course-record 62 and a place in the top ten as the afternoon progressed.
