Jeppe Huldahl remained on course for his first European Tour victory as he held off a determined charge from Niclas Fasth to retain the lead going into the closing stages of The Celtic Manor Wales Open.
Joint overnight leader Huldahl, who has yet to record a top ten finish on the circuit, showed no sign of nerves as he completed the front nine of the Twenty Ten course in 34 strokes to move to seven under.
After birdieing the par three third to move into the outright lead, Huldahl picked up another shot at the eighth - calmly sinking his putt from around five feet after a superb approach shot.
And the 26-year-old Dane started his closing nine in sensational style, almost holing his tee shot at the par three tenth and tapping in for a two, before claiming another birdie at the 11th to move to nine under.
Fasth, meanwhile, who started the day two shots off the pace at three under, picked up shots at the sixth and ninth before holing his third shot at the par five 11th for a superb eagle.
Another birdie at the par three 13th took the Swede to eight under - just one shot off the lead.
Spaniard Ignacio Garrido, who started the day tied for the lead with Huldahl and Nick Dougherty, was a shot further back on seven under following birdies at eight and 11.
Gary Lockerbie held the early clubhouse lead at six under following a stunning final round of 65 which included an eagle at the driveable par four 15th.
Paul McGinley was on the same score as Lockerbie with five holes of his final round remaining, as birdies at eight, ten, 11 and 13 outweighed a bogey at 12.
Oliver Fisher and Danny Willett were among the names at four under. Fisher made three successive birdies between nine and 11, while Willett picked up shots on four successive holes and was unfortunate not to record a fifth birdie in a row when his birdie putt at 11 lipped out.
Jeev Milkha Singh, Fabrizio Zanotti and Paul Waring were also five shots adrift of Huldahl, while Dougherty was further down the field at three under following a frustrating front nine.
Scotland’s Alan McLean posted a 67 to end on two under for the tournament, while David Lynn and Peter Lawrie finished with 69s for aggregate scores of one under and level par respectively.
