Beijing - Denmark's Lucas Bjerregaard joined Chilean Felipe Aguilar at the top of the leader board after the third round of the Volvo China Open in Beijing on Saturday, boosting his chances of securing a first European Tour win.
The 24 year-old began the round on top form with an eagle on the par-4 third, followed by four birdies on the back nine to card a seven-under par 65 and an overall score of 200 at the Topwin Golf and Country Club.
A win for Bjerregaard - currently ranked 134 in the world - would be his first on the European Tour.
He finished second at last season's UBS Hong Kong Open, losing by just one shot after a two-horse race with Englishman Justin Rose in the final round.
World number 477 Aguilar, who started the day with a one shot lead, recorded a five under par 67 to remain at the top alongside Bjerregaard.
The Chilean has two European Tour titles to his name but is hopeful for a victory in the China tournament after making just one of his previous seven cuts.
The 41-year-old managed six birdies in the round, dropping his only shot of the day on the par-3 13th.
Belgium's Nicolas Colsaerts, who won the event in 2011 at Luxehills International Country Club, also impressed, carding 65 after a bogey-free round.
An overall total of 202 puts him alongside home favourite Li Haotong, Englishman Tyrrell Hatton and Sweden's Alex Noren.
Hatton managed a 67 after a trio of birdies on the last four and an eagle on the eighth, while Noren racked up a score of 68 - recovering from a double-bogey on the fifth by also eagling the eighth.
South Korean Kim Tae-Hoon, who surged 50 places up the leader board in the second round with an impressive 64, including a hole-in-one on the 177-yard 13th, fell back again with 72.
Leading scores after the weather-delayed third round of the European Tour's Volvo China Open at the Topwin Golf and Country Club in Beijing on Saturday:
200 - Lucas Bjerregaard (DEN) 68-67-65, Felipe Aguilar (CHI) 68-65-67
202 - Alex Noren (SWE) 67-67-68, Tyrrell Hatton (ENG) 68-67-67, Li Haotong (CHN) 69-67-66, Nicolas Colsaerts (BEL) 70-67-65
203 - Gregory Havret (FRA) 70-66-67
204 - Marcel Siem (GER) 68-67-69, Richard Bland (ENG) 69-67-68, Peter Hanson (SWE) 66-71-67, Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 66-71-67
205 - Jorge Campillo (ESP) 70-67-68, Alexander Levy (FRA) 70-67-68, Hennie Otto (RSA) 63-71-71, Richie Ramsay (SCO) 68-70-67, Mangus A. Carlsson (SWE) 69-70-66, Borja Virto Astudillo (ESP) 67-70-68, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 66-72-67
206 - David Lipsky (USA) 69-67-70, Johan Carlsson (SWE) 69-72-65