Portugal Masters 2017: Lucas Bjerregaard Holds Slim Lead After Round 3

Lucas Bjerregaard has a one-shot lead at the 2017 Portugal Masters after carding a round of 68 at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course on Saturday. Bjerregaard is 14-under and one in front of George Coetzee ahead of the final day.

Meanwhile, Eddie Pepperell, Marc Warren and Nino Bertasio are all on 12-under in a three-way tie for third.

The full leaderboard after Day 3, is available at the European Tour official website.

Warren was determined to keep the pressure on those at the top and made a fantastic start to his round by holing consecutive birdies.

The European Tour official Twitter account relayed a highlight of the Scot's quality putting early on:

He was coasting until a double bogey on the par-four seven slowed Warren's progress considerably. He rallied with a run of seven-straight par finishes to bridge the front and back nines, but the damage had been done.

Warren's gaffe meant Pepperell and Bjerregaard joined him at the top. The latter was bogey free over the front nine but came unstuck at the par-four 11th.

Pepperell also suffered on the same hole but staged an impressive recovery by holing birdies at the 13th and 14th holes. The Englishman forced a three-way tie in first as he approached the par-five 17.

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However, a bogey on the 18th ultimately saw Pepperell join Warren in third. The latter managed to par the final hole but saw Bertasio eagle the 17th.

Bertasio finished on par for the round, good enough to match Warren and Pepperell as well as keep the Italian in touch with the leader.

It was soon the turn of Coetzee to force himself into the tie at the top at Warren's expense. The South African ended the front nine with a bogey at the par-three eighth before producing a birdie putt on the par-four nine.

Coetzee looked set to go one better at the par-four 11th, only to be denied by fractions:

Still, Coetzee happily settled for another birdie and hit pars up to the 17th. It was on the penultimate hole where Coetzee got his eagle, and a par on the 18th closed out his exceptional round.

Yet Bjerregaard wasn't done and sank a birdie on the 17th to finally have top spot all to himself. The Dane ended his round with a well-taken par to earn a narrow lead ahead of what should be a frantic final day in Portugal.