Sebastian Söderberg continued his relentless form in Sweden firing a round of 66 (-6) on day three of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed.
The Swedish star, who has led from round one, once again picked up where he left off with back-to-back birdies on holes two and three.
Söderberg made his next birdie on the sixth before adding another on the eighth to make the turn in four-under.
Another pair of back-to-back birdies on 12 and 13 was followed by his first bogey of the week on the 14th but the 33-year-old immediately rectified that with a birdie on 15 with applause from the home crowd.
The DP World Tour winner, who is in search of his second title, has a total of 21-under-par and an eight-shot advantage heading into the final day.
“It was all around super solid, there were still a lot of good shots and a lot of good putts. Nothing to complain about,” said Söderberg.
“It’s amazing to have so many friends and family here. It might not look like I’m taking it all in, but I am. I’m good at staying in my zone and my bubble so far and that’s what I have got to continue to do tomorrow.
“I spoke to my brother about it because the bogey had to happen eventually, I had gone so far without a bogey. I brushed it off right away and hit two good shots and a good putt on the next.
“Absolutely, I feel pressure. The weather can be like this and the margins in golf are just so much smaller. I have really got to keep playing good golf. Mistakes are going to happen, but as long as I don’t get rattled and stick to my game plan, it’s going to be alright.”
Scotland’s Calum Hill sits in outright second place after producing a round of 67 (-5) to be eight shots behind Söderberg on 13-under-par.
The Scotsman had eight birdies and three bogeys on his scorecard on day three at Vasatorps Golfklubb.
“I just hit it really nice all day,” said Hill. “A few scrappy drives to end with, but other than that it was just really good ballstriking and I managed to roll in a few putts, which I’ve been doing all week. All in all, lots of good things.
“[Putting] has always been a strength of my game, and I’ve been working the last couple of years with Andy Paisley and we always try and get marginal games and keep improving. It’s in really good shape.
“Sebastian is playing too good, so it’s potentially a title race for second at this point, which is a shame. But, again, just see if I can shoot another good score tomorrow and see where I end up.”
Three players are in a share of third place with Spain’s Santiago Tarrio, England’s Alice Hewson and Sweden’s Alexander Björk on 12-under-par.
It was a bogey-free day for Hewson who rolled in birdies on the first, third, eighth, ninth and 16th holes in Sweden.
“We just stuck to our game plan out there,” said the Englishwoman, who finished third at the 2021 Scandinavian Mixed. “As you said, we plotted it around just trying to hit fairways and greens and take advantage when I can.
“I’m not the longest hitter out here, so there’s a couple of holes where we’re just trying to be strategic and maybe leave a better angle into the green so I can take advantage of the wind or something. It seems to be working out so far.
“It was challenging out there, we were fighting the umbrella for quite a long time. It cleared up nicely for us around for 14, but it was great out there playing with Johanna [Gustavsson] as well and bouncing off each other with all the birdies. I think we each had five birdies today, so it was nice when you play well together.”
Five players sit one shot further back with Spain’s Rafa Cabrera Bello, England’s Andy Sullivan, Scotland’s Scott Jamieson and Swedish dup Jens Dantorp and Jesper Svensson all on 11-under-par.
France’s Nastasia Nadaud and Sweden’s Linn Grant both sit just outside the top 10 of the leaderboard on 10-under-par.
The final round will begin at 7.10 am (local time) with the leaders teeing off at 1.10 pm (local time) at Vasatorps Golfklubb.
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