Resurgent Australian Jason Scrivener boosted himself to No. 1 after firing off the best round of “moving day” at the Ras Al Khaimah Championship in the UAE A European Tour winner.
The 35-year-old from Perth said he felt like a new golfer this year after his break, with his blemish on the line during the third round at the AL Hamra course on Saturday. The flaw in the par 7 65 was 7 strokes.
His burst of five birdies in the first seven holes saw him rocket up the leaderboard as he eventually joined South Africa's Shaun Norris and Frenchman David Lavitteau (David Ravetto), finished third in the final round.
Scrivener will reach the final group on Sunday – but he will cut down to challenge his playing partner, head Alejandro del Rey, whose seven shots are away from him, while Marcus ·Marcus Armitage is five players ahead of Australia.
With the possibility of a final day coming, Scrivener will surely need to shake things up by producing something even better than another 65, which was England's Andrew Wilson in the under-eight.
Another in-form Australian, David Micheluzzi, won't rule himself out in the hunt for either a shaky top-two spot on Sunday as he scored 70 points in the third round seven points later of a large group.
But Spaniard Del Rey was the one who erased a two-stroke deficit behind Englishman Armitage, hitting three birdies in every nine to take the record The 66ers were spotless and moved 16 overall.
Like Scrivener, the 26-year-old has never won a title on the European Tour, but the feeling of a Second Team Challenge title may change on Sunday.
“I've won on many different trips and places around the world and feel like I know how to get it done,” he said.
“You just have to believe in yourself and go out there and do your best. I think I know how to finish the game, so I'll try to do that tomorrow.”
Armitage, who shot 70, couldn't help but smile when asked about Sunday's game plans.
He said: “Please him. Let us. That's the only thing, let us have him.”