DP World Tour : BMW PGA Championship.. Weather Leaderboard
Afternoon weather : Cloudy and very windy with rain 80% P.O.P. Wind gusts 25-35mph.
Past champion Alex Noren saved his best until last as he fired an eagle at the 18th to share the lead with Adrien Saddier ahead of the final round of the 2025 BMW PGA Championship.
With many of the players in the final two groups failing to make much progress in testing conditions at Wentworth Club, the door was left ajar for the chasing pack.
And Noren, who won this event in 2017 and shares the course record, took full advantage as he produced a birdie-birdie-eagle finish to sign for a 66.
The highlight of his round was undoubtedly the 17-foot eagle at the last, which pulled him alongside Frenchman Saddier on -15
Saddier is enjoying an outstanding campaign on the DP World Tour, claiming his maiden title at this level at the Italian Open as well as securing three other top-five finishes.
And he looked dangerous again on Saturday as he fired eight birdies and dropped just one shot (65) to give himself every chance going into Sunday's finale.
With some of the world's best players in England for the third Rolex Series event of the season, the leading duo know they will face stiff competition in round four.
Tyrrell Hatton is their nearest challenger, two shots back on -13, after he reeled off eight birdies in a flawless 64.
And Hatton's Ryder Cup team-mate Viktor Hovland is one stroke behind him in fourth -12 following his roller-coaster 71.
Noren, who ended a seven-year worldwide wait for victory at last month's Betfred British Masters hosted by Sir Nick Faldo, began the day three shots off the lead but had further ground to make up after starting his third round with a bogey.
After bouncing back with a six-foot birdie at the par-five fourth, the Swede made a hat-trick of birdies from the ninth - courtesy of some lovely putts - to move into contention.
And although he dropped another shot on the 13th, the best was yet to come as Noren drained an enormous birdie putt on the 16th, got up and down for another birdie at the 17th and knocked in his eagle try on the 18th to grab a share of the lead.
He said: "It's been a wonderful three days, a lot of fun out there.
"I was a little bit angry after my unforced bogey on the 13th - the middle of the fairway, in between clubs and tried to hit a hard nine and just duffed it.
"And then I played better coming in, and then holed a long one on the 16th. When you get a little bit of fortune like that, it kind of makes 17 and 18 easier."
Speaking about Sunday's final round, Noren added: "It's going to be so much fun. I love this.
"I'm going to work a little bit with my coach now and pick out a few shots that I didn't feel comfortable over and do some putting stuff, and just get prepared for tomorrow with a clear mind what to do."
Saddier turned in 32 after making four birdies and a bogey on the front side and continued to impress on the back nine as he picked up a shot on the 11th before making another birdie from nearly 50 feet at the 15th.
A six-foot birdie at the 17th handed him the outright lead before he climbed to -15 with a closing birdie having narrowly missed his eagle attempt.
On how he will approach the last round, Saddier said: "I think it will be another day at the office.
"Just focus on myself and my game. Try to hit a lot of fairways and greens, and we'll see if the putts drop tomorrow.
"For sure it would be good (to win). It's the biggest event of the year, but there's a lot of golf left to play and we'll see tomorrow what happens."
Sunday edit>>>>> There is a lot of wind and rain in the afternoon forecast for the leading groups, so they are paired in threes again beginning at 6.55 am with the leaders at 11.10 to try and beat the worst of it.
europeantour.com
Bryan Angus (edit)
