Scotland's Peter Whiteford will hope to turn his season around when he goes head-to-head with Englishman David Horsey in the final round of the Russian Open on Sunday.
The 33-year-old fired a six-under-par 66 in the third round at Tseleevo Golf and Polo Club to rein in Horsey, who signed for a 70, and at 13 under the pair are four shots clear of Scotland’s Scott Jamieson (69), Italian Andrea Pavan (64) and Belgian Thomas Pieters (72).
Ireland's Damien McGrane is seven under after a 69, four ahead of Kevin Phelan (74), with Simon Thornton level par after a 73.
Whiteford, who is 190th in The Race to Dubai having only made four cuts all season, had a brilliant front nine, notching five birdies and an eagle against one dropped shot, and then played the back nine in level par.
“I had an amazing start,” Whiteford told the European Tour website. “I holed a bunker shot on the first and then chipped in on the third. Dave chipped in as well - he stole some of my glory there.
“So I got off to a flyer and then the back nine I was just hanging on for dear life. “The swing didn’t feel great at all to be honest. I’m hoping I wake up tomorrow with a better swing. I had a lot of good luck today.
“On the 15th I hit my tee shot straight into the forest — it’s a tricky shot straight into the wind from an elevated tee which is never going to add up to much fun — but it bounced back out onto the fairway.
“Hopefully I haven’t used up all my luck. The back nine was tougher today — the stretch from 10 to 13 is where you might slip up. I’m not confident at all but that front nine today helps massively and I’m glad Dave and I have put a bit of breathing space between us and the next guys. It might be a bit like match play on the front nine tomorrow.”
Horsey, who had led by four shots after the second day, said: “Pete started like a train and I was just trying to tell myself to concentrate on my own game.
“It wasn’t that easy out there today and I certainly didn’t see a five or six under through nine holes. I just kept reminding myself to stay patient and concentrate on my own game, not what Pete was doing.
“I was disappointed not to birdie the eighth and then bogey the ninth — three under at the turn would have been nice. But then I birdied the 10th and 11th and tried to get back to the thought process that I’ve had the first two days.
“I didn’t quite maintain it that well on the back nine but I kept myself in there and hopefully it will be a little better tomorrow.”
M2M Russian Open, Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club, Moscow, Russia (Gbr & Irl unless stated, Irish in bold, par 72)
203 Peter Whiteford 66 71 66, David Horsey 65 68 70
207 Andrea Pavan (Ita) 73 70 64, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 67 68 72, Scott Jamieson 66 72 69
209 Sam Hutsby 72 67 70, Gary Boyd 69 68 72, Damien McGrane 69 71 69
210 Jamie McLeary 68 72 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 72 69 69
211 Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 67 71 73, Javier Colomo (Spa) 72 68 71, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 70 73 68, Krister Eriksson (Swe) 72 68 71
212 Adrien Saddier (Fra) 69 73 70, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 68 76 68, Edouard Dubois (Fra) 72 68 72
213 Joachim B Hansen (Den) 69 73 71, Sam Walker 69 71 73, Seuk-hyun Baek (Kor) 74 70 69, Brinson Paolini (USA) 72 71 70, Kevin Phelan 69 70 74, Haydn Porteous (Rsa) 72 71 70, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 67 71 75, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 74 71 68
214 Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 70 71 73, Roope Kakko (Fin) 71 73 70, James Heath 71 72 71, Adam Gee 70 75 69
215 Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 79 65 71, Daniel Im (USA) 73 72 70, Mathias Gronberg (Swe) 70 70 75, Stuart Manley 71 73 71, Gunn Charoenkul (Tha) 73 68 74, Daan Huizing (Ned) 72 74 69, James Morrison 71 73 71, Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 67 76 72, Andreas Andersson (Swe) 70 73 72, Richard Finch 71 73 71, Alastair Forsyth 75 70 70, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 69 69 77
216 Craig Lee 72 70 74, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 67 74 75, Andreas Harto (Den) 73 70 73, Simon Thornton 70 73 73, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 70 69 77, Simon Wakefield 70 76 70
217 Rhys Enoch 70 73 74, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 68 76 73, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 67 76 74, Morten Orum Madsen (Den) 71 73 73
218 Andrea Maestroni (Ita) 72 71 75, Peter Erofejeff (Fin) 74 72 72, Jack Doherty 67 73 78, Phillip Price 70 75 73, Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 76 70 72
219 Jordan L Smith 75 70 74, David Drysdale 73 69 77, Matthew Nixon 69 76 74, Carlos Pigem (Spa) 70 71 78, Bradley Dredge 70 74 75
221 Joakim Mikkelsen (Nor) 74 69 78, Jack Wilson (Aus) 67 74 80, John Hahn (USA) 72 74 75, Johan Carlsson (Swe) 74 69 78
222 Liam Bond 73 73 76
