Home favourite Marcel Siem charged into a share of the lead during the third round of the BMW International Open.
The 31 year old from Mettmann, which is less than an hour away from the Gut Lärchenhof venue in Cologne, came flying out of the blocks with an eagle two at the first followed by birdies at the fourth and sixth.
He then holed a 25 footer at ninth to turn in 31, and another birdie at the tenth saw him pull level with Sweden’s overnight leader Sjöholm on 11 under.
They were joined by Danny Willett when the Englishman – like Sjöholm chasing a maiden title – birdied two of his first three.
Former Ryder Cup winner Paul McGinley, who claimed the last of his four European Tour victories seven years ago, birdied the first to sit second on ten under par.
South African Keith Horne, Swede Oscar Floren, Dane Thomas Nørret and England’s Chris Wood were only two off the pace at nine under par on a congested leaderboard.
