Marcel Schneider remains on course to complete a wire-to-wire victory and claim his maiden DP World Tour title after a flawless third-round 66 took him into the final round of the Austrian Alpine Open presented by SalzburgerLand with a one-shot lead.
The German led by two at the halfway stage in Salzburg but slipped from the summit altogether after starting his third round with eight straight pars to remain on 11 under par.
But shortly after making his first birdie of the day at the 9th, the floodgates opened and he reeled off a hat-trick of gains from the 11th to open up a commanding lead once more.
There were hurdles still to overcome, as he found the bunker on the 14th before hitting the trees with his tee-shot at the 15th but he managed to escape unscathed, saving par on both occasions.
And he parred his way home to keep his card clean and reach 15 under par, one ahead of Nicolai von Dellingshausen after his playing partner and countryman closed his 65 with a seven-foot eagle.
Von Dellingshausen had hit the front on his own after making four birdies and no bogeys before the turn but a dropped shot on the 12th stalled his momentum before his big finish moved him to 14 under.
Dane Jeff Winther was alone in third another shot back after his eight-under-par 62, with South African Jayden Schaper sharing fifth on 10 under after carding 67.
Schneider had to stay patient on the front nine, with birdie chances hard to come by before he broke his duck from close range at the par-five 9th, having just missed his eagle try.
That seemed to lift any pressure he might have been feeling, as three lovely approach shots at the 11th, 12th and 13th set up three successive birdies.
With a three-shot lead to protect, Schneider showed his battling qualities as he almost holed his tricky bunker shot on the 14th before recovering from an errant drive on the 15th to save par.
He found another bunker on the 16th but again managed to give himself another birdie chance, before parring the final three holes to stay in front.
“Once again I felt like today I had a bit of a slow start,” Schneider said. “I got one chance at hole number three and didn’t take that. But I managed around the greens not to drop a shot. That was quite important early on and then I just stayed patient, waiting for the first birdie to drop on hole nine.
“And then everything went in my direction, I was hitting good irons, holed the putts and overall I’m quite happy.
“Obviously the last one I would like to two-putt and take a birdie as well but it is what it is.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow. I’ve got the opportunity to stay there on Sunday as a winner. But once again it’s still a long journey.
“We play a full 18 holes, anything can happen. Let’s see.”
Photo: Luke Walker/Getty Images
