Beijing (AFP) – Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard joined Chilean Felipe Aguilar at the top of the leaderboard after the third round of the Volvo China Open in Beijing Saturday, boosting his chances of securing a first European Tour win.
The 24 year-old began the round on top form with an eagle on the par-4 third, followed by four birdies on the back nine to card a seven-under par 65 and an overall score of 200 at the Topwin Golf and Country Club.
A win for Bjerregaard — currently ranked 134 in the world — would be his first on the European Tour.
He finished second at last season’s UBS Hong Kong Open, losing by just one shot after a two-horse race with Englishman Justin Rose in the final round.
World number 477 Aguilar, who started the day with a one shot lead, recorded a five under par 67 to remain at the top alongside Bjerregaard.
The Chilean has two European Tour titles to his name but is hopeful for a victory in the China tournament after making just one of his previous seven cuts.
The 41-year-old managed six birdies in the round, dropping his only shot of the day on the par-3 13th.
Belgium’s Nicolas Colsaerts, who won the event in 2011 at Luxehills International Country Club, also impressed, carding 65 after a bogey-free round.
An overall total of 202 puts him alongside home favourite Li Haotong, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden’s Alex Noren.
Hatton managed a 67 after a trio of birdies on the last four and an eagle on the eighth, while Noren racked up a score of 68 — recovering from a double-bogey on the fifth by also eagling the eighth.
South Korean Kim Tae-Hoon, who surged 50 places up the leaderboard in the second round with an impressive 64, including a hole-in-one on the 177-yard 13th, fell back again with 72.
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