Alexander Knappe continued his rich vein of form at Cleydael Golf and Country Club, carding a three under par 68 to hold a one shot lead going into the final round of the KPMG Trophy.
The German, who has led the competition since round one, picked up three birdies in his first nine holes to reach the turn in 34.
The 27 year old, who won his maiden European Challenge Tour title in Switzerland last week, made two bogeys in three holes to go to the 18th tee tied for first place with Holland’s Jurrian Van Der Vaart and England’s Paul Maddy.
But after keeping his nerve to hole a birdie putt at the last to reach 15 under par overall, the Paderborn native is looking forward to seeing if he can keep up his red hot streak in the final round tomorrow.
“It is the first time I have ever had the lead going into the final round,” said Knappe, who would become the first player to win back-to-back tournaments on Europe's top developmental tour since Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg achieved the feat in 2012.
“Today was a different feeling as I am not used to leading but I actually really enjoyed it. So tomorrow I already know what it feels like so I believe I will have an advantage there.
“I started with a really good drive on the fairway but didn’t make birdie, so it was a rough start for me. I really felt that I had to work to get into the round then made a birdie on four, bogey on five, then birdie on six, so it was really up and down.
“Also on the back nine I made bogey, birdie, bogey, so it was a little bit rough and you want to be more solid. But I birdied 18 and it is always great to finish a round like that.
“I hit it a little bit lower than usual today and on 18 I left myself with a five foot putt for the birdie. I hit it right at the middle of the hole so it was a great feeling.”
One adrift of Knappe is Van Der Vaart who made the most of moving day, shooting a seven under par 64 to fire himself up the leaderboard in the outskirts on Antwerp.
Alongside Knappe is Maddy, whose equally impressive five under par 66 put him firmly into contention going into tomorrow.
Belgium’s Thomas Detry carried on his remarkable form in his first tournament as a professional. The 23 year old, who was a team mate of fellow countryman Thomas Pieters at the University of Illinois, carded a three under par 68 to reach 13 under par overall.
The round of the day was shot by England’s Steven Tiley. The 33 year old, who led the 139th Open Championship after carding a 66 in the first round at St Andrews, shot an eight under par 63 to sit three shots off the lead going into the final round.
