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Smith surges to the top in Germany

Cape Town - Jordan Smith will go in search of his second European Tour title at the BMW International Open, taking a one stroke lead into the final round after carding a bogey-free 66 at Golfclub München Eichenried.

The Englishman hasn't dropped a shot since a bogey at the start of his second round on Friday, playing the next 35 holes in 12 under par, reaching a 13-under par total with his final birdie of the day on the 15th hole.

It was a lot better out there today. I had control of the ball a lot better than I did yesterday. I've been driving it great, I don't think I missed many fairways which is quite key with the greens being fairly firm. They were pretty soft today so you were able to attack the pins. I had the ball under control, a bit of a shame about the two pitches onto 16 and 18 but apart from that it was all good," said Smith.

Smith has previous form in Germany, having won his first European Tour title in Hamburg at the Porsche European Open in 2017.

"I won in Germany a couple of years ago so I like Germany. Hopefully I can take two years and everything into account for tomorrow and see how it goes. I missed my first cut in Denmark a couple of weeks ago but the game was still looking good for that week. It's been feeling good for a long while so I'm looking forward to tomorrow," said Smith.

He is one stroke ahead of compatriot Matt Fitzpatrick and Austria's Matthias Schwab. The pair both carded seven-under par rounds of 65 - the lowest of the day - to move into second place.

Defending champion Matt Wallace remains in the hunt in Munich after a four under par round and is joined by Christiaan Bezuidenhout in fourth place on 11 under par.

Former world No 1 Lee Westwood is sixth alongside Frenchman Matthieu Pavon and Sweden's Sebastian Soderberg.

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