Nicolas Colsaerts continued his recent good form as he joined Matthew Fitzpatrick at the top of the leaderboard midway through the third round of the Nordea Masters at Bro Hof Slott Golf Club.
The Belgian came close to losing his card last season before a late surge in form and he has carried that momentum into 2016, making his last five cuts with a third-placed finish at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
He came into day three in Stockholm at eight under, three shots behind Fitzpatrick, but turned in 33 to get to 11 under and join the Englishman who played his front nine in level par.
Local Favourite Alexander Björk was then a shot back, one clear of Scotsman Scott Henry.
Denmark's Lasse Jensen was making the move of the day and he was eight under with two to play, a shot ahead of Ross Fisher, Andrew Johnston, Rikard Karlberg and Alex Noren.
Björk made the first move to close the gap on Fitzpatrick with a birdie on the third but Colsaerts soon leapfrogged him and cut it to one with gains on the fourth and sixth.
A 20-foot putt on the eighth saw the two-time winner hit the summit and when playing partner Fitzpatrick bogeyed the same hole, he was there on his own.
The big-hitter then failed to take advantage of the par five ninth and a Fitzpatrick birdie meant the pair were locked together.
Björk birdied the ninth to get himself into double figures while playing partner Henry had turned in 36 but chipped in on the tenth to move to nine under.
Jensen had birdies on the third and ninth to turn in 34 but then three gains in a row from the 13th catapulted him into contention.
Swedish duo Karlberg and Noren - seeking a third title in six years - were two under for their rounds with the English pair of Fisher and Johnston both slipping back.
Bjorn Hellgren had earlier set the clubhouse target at five under thanks to a 68.
