MALMO, Sweden -- Bradley Dredge, the overnight leader, posted a 5-under 66 on Saturday, but it was only enough to share the third-round lead of the Scandinavian Masters. Barry Lane shot a 6-under 65 at Kungsangen to join Dredge in first at 18-under-par 195.
Mark Hensby and Henrik Stenson each fired rounds of 7-under-par 64 and share third place at 16-under-par 197. Damien McGrane carded a 64 of his own on Saturday and is alone in fifth place at minus-15.
Third-round tee times were moved up as heavy rain was forecast for Saturday. There were occasional rain showers, but the third round was completed as scheduled.
Dredge, who held the 54-hole lead last week at the Players’ Championship of Europe, but lost by three, birdied the first, then drained a 15-foot birdie putt at No. 4. He made it two in a row at the par-5 fifth when he two- putted from 40 feet.
Dredge parred his next three holes, then got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie at the par-5 ninth. He birdied No. 11, but found trouble at the 12th when his 18-foot chip did not find the cup.
The 32-year-old from Wales sandwiched a pair of birdies around a bogey at the 16th and found himself tied with Lane. Dredge had a 15-foot chance at birdie at the last, but missed, meaning he would share the 54-hole lead as he looks for his second victory on the European Tour.
‘I said to my caddie that I needed to finish well to get ahead of Barry in case the thunderstorms arrived,’ said Dredge, whose only win on the European Tour came at the 2003 Madeira Island Open.
Lane, a five-time winner on the European Tour, including last year’s British Masters, birdied the first and fifth holes to keep pace with Dredge, who had a one-stroke lead at the start of Saturday’s third round.
Lane ran home a 6-foot birdie putt at the eight and collected back-to-back birdies with a two-putt from 45 feet at the par-5 ninth. He made it three in a row with a birdie at 10.
At the 14th, Lane split the fairway, then knocked his approach to 2 feet. He birdied that hole, then birdied 15, but dropped a shot 16 to fall out of sole possession of first.
Lane credits a new work ethic for his strong play in the last two years.
‘I had a bit of grumpy period a few years back, but that’s over now,’ admitted Lane. ‘I wasn’t playing well, but then I wasn’t working hard enough. I thought it was just going to happen. Now I am getting the rewards of hard work.
‘I spent the last two weeks chipping harder than ever. I probably spent more time in the chipping green in the past nine days than I’d done in the first 20 years of playing.’
Adam Scott, the highest-ranked player in the field at No. 7, fired a 65 on Saturday to get into a tie for sixth place. First-round leader Marc Cayeux (68), Richard Finch (65), Pierre Fulke (70), Henrik Nystrom (69) and Jean-Francois Remesy (69) joined Scott at minus-13.
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