Hamish Brown will take a two-stroke lead into the final round of the Hangzhou Open after signing for his second nine under par 63 of the week to reach 20 under after round three.
Brown mixed an eagle and nine birdies with two bogeys on Saturday to restore the two-stroke advantage he had initially built after round one, with compatriot Kristian Hjort Bressum his closest competitor finishing at 18 under.
The Dane was delighted to return to the form he had found in round one on moving day, after a slow second round 70 had seen him fall out of the lead at Hangzhou West Lake.
“Once again it was a nice one,” he said. “There were a few bumps in the road today but I kind of blitzed it from the fifth which was nice.
“As I said on Thursday I like this golf course and it talked to me today in some ways which was quite nice and I’ll keep it going.”
Despite a birdie at the opening hole, Brown endured a slow start after a dropped shot at the fourth saw him level par in the early stages and off the pace.
But an incredible eagle two at the driveable par four fifth saw the 27-year-old’s round ignite, with two more birdies following on the front nine.
Six back nine birdies, including a hat-trick from the 14th to the 16th, and one further blemish saw the Dane return in 31 strokes and reach the 20 under par total.
Brown was glad to capitalize on the eagle and continue his charge after a bit of fortune.
“It was a bit lucky,” he added. “You’re trying to hit it at the pin but it’s nearly impossible to get it to stop. It pitched just perfectly in the fringe and I had about eight or nine feet so that got me going.
“I missed a few more fairways yesterday, didn’t hit it as close and then didn’t make as many putts either so it was a bit of a domino effect from the tee box.
“If you’re in the fairway you can put it close and you’ll have more looks and it just becomes easier so I just need to keep trying to do that.”
During the 2026 season Brown has been the nearly man, with three runner up finishes to his name making him the highest player in the Road to Mallorca Rankings without a win this term.
But the two-time HotelPlanner Tour winner, who currently lies eighth in the season-long Rankings and in a good position to graduate to the DP World Tour, says he won’t do anything differently to try and break his duck.
“I’ll do the same I’ve been doing all year and not try and do anything different, just play golf and see what happens.
“There’s still 18 holes of golf left and it’s not an easy golf course. People will probably play well, I might play well, we’ll never know so I’ll keep at it."
Brown has twice held or shared the 54-hole lead in the 2026 campaign already, but says this hasn’t been a frustration as he looks to convert a lead into a win at the third time of asking.
“You can always learn from them but I don’t feel annoyed by it.
“I think more about it when I’m not on the golf course than when I’m on it. When I’m on the golf course I don’t really care I’m just trying to play golf.
“I would’ve taken this position when I started the tournament so we’ll see where we end up.”
Belgian Matthis Besard and Lars van der Vight from the Netherlands will enter Sunday’s final round in a share of third trailing the Danish duo of Brown and Bressum at 16 under par, with German Dominic Foos rounding out the top five at 14 under.
The final round of the Hangzhou Open gets under way at 8:00am local time, with Brown playing alongside Bressum and Besard at 9:40am.
