Mikael Lindberg carded a bogey-free five under par round of 66 on moving day at Vesterby Links to take a three-stroke lead into the final round of the Indoor Golf Group Challenge.
The Swede started his round with an opening birdie and added another at the eighth to make the turn two under. Further gains at the 12th and 13th, alongside a birdie at the last, took him to 13 under par, three shots clear of Northern Irishman Dermot McElroy in second place.
The 31-year-old continued with an aggressive approach off the tee that has worked well through the first two rounds, and credited his bogey-free 66 to staying out of the punishing rough at Vesterby Links.
“I stayed patient all day and kept the ball in play.” he said. “I got off to a good start at the first with a birdie, and the rest was good as well, so that was nice.
“I’ve been hitting a lot of drivers and continued with that today. I feel like the wind has been pretty much from the same direction all three days. It’s been different in strength, but overall I feel like the course has been playing pretty similar.
“I only hit iron on the 9th, but drivers on all the other holes. That’s my plan for tomorrow as well. Hopefully I can hit some good drives again.”
Lindberg secured his maiden Challenge Tour title with a three-stroke victory at this event two years ago, and admits that experience has been on his mind as he pursues another Challenge Tour triumph on home soil.
“Of course it’s in the back of my mind that I’ve done it before,” he added. “I played well last week, and that probably means more than the last win here, but I definitely have it on my mind that I’ve done it before.
“I’m going to try and play the course as I have been playing it the first three days. I’ll stay aggressive and see where it takes me.”
McElroy sits in second place at ten under par, one stroke ahead of Swedes Jesper Sandborg and Joakim Lagergren, while Spaniard Alvaro Hernandez Cabezuela climbed into fifth place at eight under par after carding a six under 65, the low round of the day.
Four players share sixth place at seven under par, including France’s Benjamin Hébert, South African Bryce Easton, Sweden’s Rikard Karlberg and Lars Van Meijel of the Netherlands.
The final round of the Indoor Golf Group Challenge gets under way at 7:30am local time, with Lindberg teeing off alongside Lagergren and McElroy at 9:40am.
