Dale Whitnell continues to sit at the top of the leaderboard at the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed after a round of 70 (-2) at Ullna Golf Club.
The Englishman, who shot an exceptional 61 (-11) on day two, held a six-shot lead coming into the third day of competition and had another consistent day to take a four-shot lead into the final round.
It was a dropped shot on the second for the 34-year-old, but he then made three consecutive birdies on holes three through five before adding another on seven.
Whitnell made a double bogey on the ninth but immediately responded with a birdie on 10 and rolled in another on 15.
After finding the water on 16, he posted another double bogey but finished with a birdie on 18 for a round of 70 to move to 19-under-par.
“I had a couple of instances where it didn’t quite go to plan, but I just tried to plug away and take one shot at a time,” said Whitnell.
“It’s hard to go for a round of golf without dropping a shot, let alone having one or two or three or three. But I just stuck to my guns and game plan and tried to execute it. It wasn’t a bad day. It wasn’t exactly ideal, but it was more than acceptable.
“Yannik [Paul] played great and hit some good shots under pressure. He started off with a nice eagle down the fourth and from there we mixed and matched birdies. I just kept my head and it was nice to follow him [with a birdie] on the last.”
Four shots behind the leader is Germany’s Yannik Paul, who carded a round of 68 (-4) on day four to reach a total of 15-under-par.
The German began his day with a bogey at the first before rebounded with an eagle on the fourth. Paul then rolled in three birdies on the back nine for his round of four-under.
“I have played in the last group a few times now; I feel really comfortable,” he said. “A bogey can happen, I just didn’t hit the best drive and I know there are a lot of birdie opportunities out there.
“The first nine I struggled a bit, I was grinding to make pars and didn’t have many birdie opportunities and the back nine I found something. I hit better shots and that led to more birdies, I’m happy with the final birdie.
“My gameplan will stay the same. I made it on Wednesday and I feel like it gives me the best chance to shoot the lowest score. I want to come out ideally and make a few birdies to put pressure on him, but everyone wants that. I will try to stick to my game and hopefully shoot a low score and we’ll see what Dale does.”
Scotland’s Richie Ramsay sits in third place on 13-under-par after producing a third round of 69 (-3) at Ullna Golf Club.
Round of the day went to Dutch star Anne van Dam, who fired an excellent nine-under-par 63 to catapult up the leaderboard.
The five-time LET winner made a birdie on the second hole followed by a bogey on the third and an eagle on the fourth.
Van Dam rolled in two more birdies on nine and 10 before kicking into another gear with five birdies in her final seven holes for the best female round of the week to move into fourth place on 12-under-par.
“It was just a very good day, overall. I didn’t really miss a shot, I maybe had one bad shot,” said van Dam. “My lay-up caught a tree on the third hole, but other than that I played really good.
“I hit a bunch of fairways and greens. I think I missed one green, so I had a lot of chances and hit a couple really close and holed a couple of nice putts. Overall, very happy with my game today.
“I just love tough golf courses like this. It’s such a good setup, they did a phenomenal job this week with how everything is set up. The course, it’s fun playing with the guys and it gives you a little bit of motivation. This morning I was looking and there were only four girls in front of me and 24 guys, so I knew I had a lot of catching up to do.”
Four players are in a share of fifth place on 11-under-par including England’s Gabriella Cowley and Sweden’s Madelene Sagström, who both fired sensational rounds of 64 (-8) on day three.
Cowley had a spectacular scorecard as she made three eagles on day three, as well as three birdies and only one dropped shot.
She explained: “I have never had three eagles in a round. I don’t think I’ve had three eagles all year to be honest! So, to have them in one round was great.
“On the first eagle, I played a good shot. It was around 30-35 yards and I couldn’t see the pin at all and I just played such a nice chip and landed it where I wanted and I remember everyone going crazy when it went in.
“The second one I hit a hybrid quite close to six or seven foot and I holed that. With the last one, again I hit a hybrid over the water. It’s a tough hole as it is especially with the wind the way it was and I had about 15 feet and holed it.
“Tomorrow I just want to keep playing well. I feel like it’s been close, but I’ve not really had it, so to actually do it and play well is just nice.”
While Swedish star Sagström produced a flawless day with no dropped shots and eight birdies on her card to the delight of the home crowds.
“I have never had this experience before because I don’t have this when I play in America and I haven’t had it when I have played in Europe,” said the Solheim Cup winner.
“Playing on home soil in front of home crowds, I have so many people from my home club and hometown. It’s crazy when they cheer the most for me. It’s a lovely experience and I’m super grateful everyone is coming out and watching this.
“You always try and find momentum. I have played really well every single day, but I didn’t really make any putts the first two days. When you start making putts early, it’s easier to build momentum so that’s what I did today. I got a few bonus ones in the end. I kept trying to stay present and not get ahead of myself and acting on what I’ve just done. I kept rolling it good and giving myself good chances.”
Cowley and Sagström are joined on 11-under-par by American Sean Crocker and England’s Matthew Jordan.
Four players are in a tie for ninth place with France’s Frederic Lacroix, England’s Paul Waring, Spain’s Angel Hidalgo and Denmark’s Søren Kjeldsen on 10-under-par.
The fourth round will get underway at 7.30 am local time with the final group teeing it up at 1.40 pm local time.
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