Thomas Pieters came home in 30 on day three of the Portugal Masters to put himself in pole position to claim a fifth European Tour victory in Vilamoura.
The 2016 Ryder Cup star has endured a frustrating 2021, with a best finish of ninth despite making 12 cuts from his 15 events so far as he looks to claim a first win since 2019.
But a 65 on day three in the Algarve moved him to 16 under and handed him a share of the lead alongside Frenchman Matthieu Pavon, who also carded a 65.
For Pádraig Harrington, a third round of 68 moved him up the leaderboard slightly into a tie for 19th at six under par. Harrington picked up birdies at the sixth, 12th, 15th and 17th and dropped just one shot at the ninth.
Two shots further back at four under is Jonathan Caldwell who signed for a round of 69 on day three.
At the top of the leaderboard, Pavon made four birdies on the front nine to lead by three, while Pieters recorded three of his own along with a bogey and a double before the turn.
A gain on the 10th seemed to spur the Belgian into life and he eagled the par-five 12th after hitting the green in two, before back-to-back birdies on the 14th and 15th had him in the lead.
Pavon dropped a shot on the 11th but birdied the 12th, 15th and 16th as the pair went head-to-head and led by two thanks to a Pieters bogey on the 16th.
But Pieters finished birdie-birdie to get back on top, with Pavon dropping a shot on the 17th but picking it back up on the last.
“The front nine was really tough with the wind,” said Pieters. “We got lucky, it just kind of died down on the back nine but the front nine was brutal.
“It’s nice to be 16 under... hopefully I’ll have a chance tomorrow.”
Pavon is looking for his maiden European Tour victory as he leads after 54 holes for the first time, and is hopeful he can maintain his focus under pressure.
“I try to hit as many greens as possible and this is the way I was,” he said. “Focused on every shot, try to hit every shot like it was the most important in my life.
“The focus was really good and narrow today compared to yesterday so I will try to bring this mentality with me tomorrow.”
Dane Lucas Bjerregaard was third at 12 under, two shots clear of England’s Sam Horsfield, with two more Englishmen in Richard Bland and Callum Shinkwin at nine under.
Portugal Masters leaderboard (British unless stated, Par 71)
197 Thomas Pieters (Bel) 68 64 65, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 68 64 65
201 Lucas Bjerregaard (Den) 67 65 69
202 Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 69 67 66
203 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 67 69 67, Sam Horsfield 68 66 69
204 Richard Bland 70 65 69, Callum Shinkwin 67 66 71, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 67 69 68, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 61 69 74
205 Adria Arnaus (Spa) 65 67 73, Oliver Wilson 68 67 70, Gavin Green (Mal) 66 69 70, Francesco Laporta (Ita) 70 66 69, Matthew Jordan 70 68 67
206 Grant Forrest 68 67 71, Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 69 67 70, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 69 67 70
207 Min-Woo Lee (Aus) 68 68 71, Pádraig Harrington (Irl) 67 72 68, Sean Crocker (USA) 70 67 70, David Horsey 70 68 69, Jack Senior 71 67 69
208 Victor Perez (Fra) 72 68 68, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 71 66 71, Romain Langasque (Fra) 71 68 69, Ross Fisher 71 67 70
209 Niklas Lemke (Swe) 72 68 69, Chris Wood 71 69 69, Jonathan Caldwell (NIrl) 69 71 69, Pep Angles (Spa) 68 69 72, Richie Ramsay 70 69 70, Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 72 69 68
210 Stephen Gallacher 69 68 73, Ricardo Santos (Por) 70 69 71
211 Steven Brown 68 71 72, Alexander Levy (Fra) 69 69 73, John Catlin (USA) 70 70 71, Antoine Rozner (Fra) 70 69 72, Andy Sullivan 70 71 70, Justin Walters (Rsa) 71 70 70
212 Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 72 69 71, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 67 71 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 69 72 71
213 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 71 72, Marcus Armitage 68 69 76, Jordan Smith 72 67 74, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 70 71 72, Jamie Donaldson 73 67 73
214 Wil Besseling (Ned) 68 74 72, Robert MacIntyre 70 70 74, George Coetzee (Rsa) 70 71 73, Kalle Samooja (Fin) 68 72 74, Scott Jamieson 71 71 72, Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 70 72 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 71 69 74
216 Ignacio Elvira (Spa) 72 70 74, David Law 68 74 74, Vitor Lopes (Por) 71 69 76, Tomas Gouveia (Por) 71 69 76
217 Andrew Johnston 72 68 77
218 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 69 73 76, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 68 74 76, Ashley Chesters 75 66 77, Marc Warren 74 67 77
