With a walk-off birdie-3, World No. 322 Jens Dantorp broke out of a seven-way tie for the lead on a wild Saturday at the ASI Scottish Open, reaching 13-under 197 after three rounds with a 2-under-par 36-32=68 to establish a one-shot advantage over defending champion Rickie Fowler, Ryan Fox, Scott Hend, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Marcel Siem and Alexander Bjork.
On a classic links day when the early starters had much easier scoring conditions and were able to reel in the leaders, the field bunched up to the extent that the top 26 players are now covered by just four shots. Dantorp, who started R3 in T2, was struggling to hold his position in the top ten after a bogey-birdie-bogey start and a series of pars. But he closed with red circles at 16, 17 and 18 to edge in front and secure a 54-hole lead for the first time on the European Tour. As well as trying to grab his first European Tour win, the Swede will also be trying to book a spot in next week’s Open Championship. This season he’s made 14 of 18 cuts but hasn’t managed better than T16.