Christian Nilsson maintained control of the European Challenge Tour’s Telia Challenge Waxholm after a consolidatory third round of 72 ensured the Swede a four shot from Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet going into the final round.
Nilsson has led the tournament since the first round, and his one under third round effort gave him a 14 under par aggregate, with Gonnet in second place and Sweden’s Magnus Persson Atlevi and Australia’s John Wade in a tie for third on nine under and Finland’s Tomas Tuovinen a further shot back.
Gonnet’s four under par 69 would have been better had he not dropped two shots in his closing four holes, but the Frenchman will still be hoping that he can catch Nilsson with a low round on Sunday afternoon.
Likewise Atlevi and Wade, both former European Tour players with enough experience to be ready to capitalise on any mistakes from the relatively inexperienced Nilsson.
In fairness to the Swedish leader, he has looked the most comfortable player on the course this week, and he made sure he would have every opportunity to capture his maiden Challenge Tour victory with his third round 72.
It may not have been as exceptional as his opening scores of 66-67, but Nilsson was nonetheless delighted to have such a commanding cushion going into the final 18 holes of the tournament.
“I played alright today,” said Nilsson. “It wasn’t as good as the first couple of days but I am still hitting the ball well and looking forward to tomorrow – it should be a lot of fun. Today was a new situation for me as I had never been out in the last match so I am quite satisfied with how I did.
“I came into this event after winning on the Nordic League last week, so I knew that I was playing well and thought I could have a chance to win if I kept things going.
“I have done that for three rounds and played well, but to have a four shot lead going into the last round is probably beyond my expectations. If it happens for me tomorrow and I manage to win it will be the kick in the backside that I need.
“I would definitely move up play on the Challenge Tour full time if I can manage to win, but we will see what tomorrow brings. My main goal is to go out and try to enjoy the day and if I do that I will have a great chance to win.”
