Joachim B Hansen revealed he had spoken to Thomas Bjørn before taking advantage of his countryman's misfortune to equal the low round of the week at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Dane Hansen had not even been in the field this week before Bjørn was forced to withdraw with a back injury on Thursday. The 25 year old only found out an hour before his tee time that he was playing and only just scraped into the weekend after opening rounds of 72-71.
A conversation with 15-time European Tour winner Bjørn followed, and Hansen went on to fire a third-round 64, equalling that of another Dane - Thorbjørn Olesen - to catapult himself into contention at Emirates Golf Club.
"Thomas actually called me yesterday and we had a little chat – he was just happy that I had got something out of his withdrawal," he said. "I found out I was in the tournament an hour before my tee time.
Obviously it's never great when someone has to withdraw with an injury, but I am pleased that I got into the tournament and have been able to take advantage of that - Joachim B Hansen
Hansen got his round on Saturday off to a brilliant start as he opened with three birdies but gave a shot back on the fifth to turn in 33. An eagle on the par five tenth was then followed by four straight gains to get the Challenge Tour graduate to nine under and right in the mix
"I hit a lot of good shots in the first two rounds and made plenty of birdies but made too many mistakes as well," he said.
"Today there were much less bogeys so the score was obviously a lot better. It was just one of those days where the putts drop and I managed to get on a bit of a roll.
"I made a good five-foot putt for par on the ninth and then went on that great run from the tenth which really made the score."
