After two days of hanging around at the edge of the leader board, world No. 2 Henrik Stenson made his move at the Nordea Masters, firing an 8-under 64 to forge a tie for first with England’s Eddie Pepperell through 54 holes at 13-under.
Pepperell was no slouch himself, shooting a 7-under 65, as did Scotland’s Stephen Gallacher, who is tied for third with Alvaro Quiros of Spain at 12-under.
Stenson’s 64 is the best round of the tournament to date. He was 5-under on the front nine with three birdies and an eagle on the par-4, 481-yard No. 7, and 3-under on the back nine, firing four birdies and a solo bogey on No. 15.
The birdies have been frequent for Stenson this week, but he had tripped himself up with four bogeys in Round 1 and two plus a double bogey in Round 2.
Pepperell had the lead all alone until he bogeyed No. 17. He started his round with three straight birdies, then had five in a six-hole stretch between No. 11 and No. 16.
Likewise, Gallacher was in the lead until late. He rattled off four straight birdies between 11 and 14, then lost a stroke with a bogey on No. 17.
Quiros, who had been tied with Pepperell at 6-under through 36 holes, had his second straight eagle on No. 1 to start the round, and at 6-under before he too bogeyed No. 17.
Two other players are double-digits under par, and thus well in contention for the lead entering Sunday. France’s Victor Dubuisson, also a co-leader entering Saturday, is at 11-under after firing a 5-under 67.
Dubuisson was 6-under through 14, then bogeyed 15 and 16 to finally cool off a bit. Wales’ Bradley Dredge also hit a 67 and is in sixth place at 10-under. Dredge had 5 birdies, 13 pars and no bogeys on the round.
Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who finished third at last week’s BMW Championship, had his best round of the weekend, a 4-under 68 to move two spots to a tie for 12th at 7-under.
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