Former Walker Cup star Graeme McDowell, playing only his fourth European Tour event, remains on course to record a stunning victory in the Scandinavian Masters.
The Portrush rookie carded a third round 66 for a 10 under total of 203 and share of the lead with Ryder Cup Swede Niclas Fasth and former USPGA champion Jeff Sluman.
But Colin Montgomerie's defence of his one remaining title came to a sorry end as the former European number one crashed to a 74 to finish 10 shots adrift on level par.
McDowell spent most of his 23rd birthday on Tuesday waiting for his delayed flight from Manchester to Stockholm, and only had time for nine holes of practice at Kungsangen.
It was the first time he had seen the course, just days after signing an agreement to represent them on the European Tour during his first season as a professional.
Yet less than 48 hours later he had carded a new course record 64 to lead after the first round, and today, using a putter given to him by Darren Clarke, fired four birdies and an eagle before a last hole bogey cost him the outright lead.
"Darren gave me the putter last Monday but I used a different one for the first two rounds of a Challenge Tour event," said the 23-year-old, who bettered Tiger Woods' collegiate scoring average when finishing his three years at the University of Alabama as the top ranked college golfer in America.
"I put it in the bag on Saturday and straight away shot 66.
"He also sent me a text message after the first round and he's been a big help the last few years. He doesn't seem approachable but I played a couple of times with him at Portrush and he offered to help me out."
McDowell will partner South African Trevor Immelman in the penultimate group on Sunday and feels that will give him a great chance to claim the £200,000 first prize that will secure his tour card for the next two seasons.
"Yesterday was pretty difficult for me, I was very protective because I was leading the tournament," added McDowell, a member of the Great Britain and Ireland team that retained the Walker Cup for the first time last year.
"Today I was much more relaxed and had fun out there. It helped being in the third last group and it will help not being in the last group as well on Sunday.
"If I think about trying to earn enough to win my card I will be in big trouble. I'm going to give it a rip and try and make some birdies and give the others something to think about.
"I won nine events at college in the States and only ever lost one, my last ever, when leading going into the final round."