Jamie Donaldson and Richie Ramsay had starkly contrasting starts to their third rounds at the Omega European Masters, which meant Donaldson seized the lead from overnight frontrunner Ramsay.
Half way through the tournament Ramsay was 12 under par, a shot ahead of Donaldson. However, Ramsay bogeyed three of his first four holes to drop back to nine under while Donaldson birdied four of his opening six to rise to 15 under.
Donaldson was two clear of Edoardo Molinari, who was five under through seven holes thanks in part to three straight birdies from the fifth.
Donaldson and Molinari’s excellent scoring was typical of much of the field on a glorious day at the stunning Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club.
Ireland’s Peter Lawrie had played the round of the day so far, firing 62 to sit nine under.
Lawrie would have been even closer to the lead had he not dropped the only shot of his excellent round with a bogey at 16, a par three.
His gains all came from birdies, including three consecutively from the first and eighth holes.
Lawrie said: “I was lucky yesterday to make the cut. I holed about a 15-footer at the last and made the cut on the mark.
“I came out this morning, tried to shoot a low number and all of a sudden holed a few putts from pretty close. The magic 59 was on with a couple of holes to play. Unfortunately I didn’t do that but 62 is a very good score.”
