Pieters, a member of Europe’s 2016 Ryder Cup team, carded eight birdies and an eagle during his round and will go in search of his fifth European Tour title. Pavon joined him in a share of the lead on 16 under par after his eighth birdie of the day on the 18th hole, recovering from a dropped shot on the 17th.
Pavon is bidding for a maiden European Tour victory and holds a 54-hole lead on Tour for the first time in his career.
The pair are four strokes ahead of 2017 Portugal Masters champion Lucas Bjerregaard, who is also seeking a strong finish to secure his card for the 2022 season. The Dane is 12 under par after three rounds, one stroke ahead of Dutch Open winner Kristoffer Broberg.
In a share of fifth place on ten under are Denmark’s Nicolai Højgaard and Englishman Sam Horsfield.
Player Quotes
Thomas Pieters: “I was quite happy. The front nine was really tough with the wind, we got lucky and it died down on the back nine. The front nine was brutal. The wind switched every five seconds, it felt like. I putted well, gave myself plenty of chances and it was nice to walk off with a putt like that.
“I felt like I played well all day. I’m not going to make any excuses but I had a mud ball on the par five, the fifth. I had five mudballs on the first nine. I finished well. I hit a terrible three wood into 12, got away with it and made the putt. In my head that was like a two or three shot swing, I was very positive after that.”
Matthieu Pavon: “It feels great. I took that putt personally (on 18), because I made a three putt on 17, so I wanted revenge on the 18th, which was a tough hole. I’m really proud of it.
“I just focused a lot on the pace (of the greens), that’s the main thing. I feel like I have had good reads this week, after that it’s just the pace. The only putts where I missed the pace were 17 and 11, I gave myself a little bit of work. After a full field, the greens sometimes aren’t good at the end of the day. The key was good pace, leaving less pressure on the putt back.
“It will be the same tomorrow. I try to hit as many greens as possible, this is the way I was today, focused on every shot and trying to hit every shot as if it was the most important in my life. The focus was good and narrowed compared to yesterday, so I will try and bring this mentality with me into tomorrow.”
Lucas Bjerregaard: “I didn’t have my best today. I drove it poorly, but all-in-all it wasn’t too bad. I was a little disappointed with the finish. I hit a good drive on 17 and was able to go for the green, but I hit it in the water and made bogey. That was disappointing, it would have been nice to make a birdie there.
“This week and next week, it’s all about the result. I haven’t played well these last three days, it’s not been pretty or fairway-green all the time, but I don’t really care. I just have to get the job done. It doesn’t matter where I hit it, I just have to hit it better next time.
“It’s all about the result. It’s all on me. No one else is going to get me over the line. I’m going to go out and try and win this thing, that’ll take care of everything.”
Scores after Round Three
197 T PIETERS (BEL) 68 64 65, M PAVON (FRA) 68 64 65,
201 L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 67 65 69,
202 K BROBERG (SWE) 69 67 66,
203 N H?JGAARD (DEN) 67 69 67, S HORSFIELD (ENG) 68 66 69,
204 B HEBERT (FRA) 67 69 68, R BLAND (ENG) 70 65 69, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 67 66 71, N BERTASIO (ITA) 61 69 74,
205 M JORDAN (ENG) 70 68 67, F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 66 69, G GREEN (MAS) 66 69 70, O WILSON (ENG) 68 67 70, A ARNAUS (ESP) 65 67 73,
206 T PULKKANEN (FIN) 69 67 70, J HANSEN (DEN) 69 67 70, G FORREST (SCO) 68 67 71,
207 P HARRINGTON (IRL) 67 72 68, D HORSEY (ENG) 70 68 69, J SENIOR (ENG) 71 67 69, S CROCKER (USA) 70 67 70, M LEE (AUS) 68 68 71,
208 V PEREZ (FRA) 72 68 68, R LANGASQUE (FRA) 71 68 69, R FISHER (ENG) 71 67 70, A BJ?RK (SWE) 71 66 71,
209 E MOLINARI (ITA) 72 69 68, N LEMKE (SWE) 72 68 69, C WOOD (ENG) 71 69 69, J CALDWELL (NIR) 69 71 69, R RAMSAY (SCO) 70 69 70, P ANGLES (ESP) 68 69 72,
210 R SANTOS (POR) 70 69 71, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 68 73,
211 J WALTERS (RSA) 71 70 70, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 70 71 70, J CATLIN (USA) 70 70 71, A ROZNER (FRA) 70 69 72, S BROWN (ENG) 68 71 72, A LEVY (FRA) 69 69 73,
212 F ZANOTTI (PAR) 69 72 71, T OLESEN (DEN) 72 69 71, R H?JGAARD (DEN) 67 71 74,
213 M KIEFFER (GER) 70 71 72, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 70 71 72, J DONALDSON (WAL) 73 67 73, J SMITH (ENG) 72 67 74, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 68 69 76,
214 S JAMIESON (SCO) 71 71 72, J JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 70 72 72, W BESSELING (NED) 68 74 72, G COETZEE (RSA) 70 71 73, R MACINTYRE (SCO) 70 70 74, P HANSON (SWE) 71 69 74, K SAMOOJA (FIN) 68 72 74,
216 D LAW (SCO) 68 74 74, N ELVIRA (ESP) 72 70 74, T GOUVEIA (POR) 71 69 76, V LOPES (POR) 71 69 76,
217 A JOHNSTON (ENG) 72 68 77,
218 M KORHONEN (FIN) 68 74 76, N COLSAERTS (BEL) 69 73 76, M WARREN (SCO) 74 67 77, A CHESTERS (ENG) 75 66 77,
*
143 G STORM (ENG) 74 69, R ROCK (ENG) 73 70, O FISHER (ENG) 70 73, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 72 71, L CANTER (ENG) 70 73, R ROUSSEL (FRA) 73 70, R MCEVOY (ENG) 73 70, J SURI (USA) 71 72,
144 P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 71 73, J LUITEN (NED) 72 72, J SINGH BRAR (ENG) 72 72, O FARR (WAL) 74 70, R PARATORE (ITA) 72 72, M LORENZO-VERA (FRA) 70 74, D GAVINS (ENG) 72 72,
145 C SYME (SCO) 73 72, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 70 75, D DRYSDALE (SCO) 72 73, C PAISLEY (ENG) 71 74, J LIMA (POR) 72 73,
146 R JACQUELIN (FRA) 71 75, M KINHULT (SWE) 72 74, J GUERRIER (FRA) 74 72,
147 A QUIROS (ESP) 73 74, S GARCIA RODRIGUEZ (ESP) 74 73,
148 H PORTEOUS (RSA) 75 73, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 79 69, M WALLACE (ENG) 72 76, J STALTER (FRA) 76 72, J DU PREEZ (RSA) 72 76, C SHARVIN (NIR) 76 72,
149 E PEPPERELL (ENG) 73 76,
150 T BJ?RN (DEN) 73 77, S SODERBERG (SWE) 76 74,
151 Z LOMBARD (RSA) 73 78, L GAGLI (ITA) 76 75,
152 D HOWELL (ENG) 75 77, S HEND (AUS) 75 77,
162 P CLARE NEVES (AM) (POR) 78 84,
