Rising German star Martin Kaymer is poised for his second win of the year - and a probable leap to sixth on the Ryder Cup table.
Last season's European Tour Rookie of the Year, who will be making his Open Championship debut at Royal Birkdale in a month's time, goes into the final round of the BMW International Open in Munich with a six-stroke lead.
The 23-year-old from Dusseldorf, who opened a five-shot advantage with his Friday 63, thrilled his home crowd again with a bogey-free 67.
Kaymer, who showed in the Middle East in January he could win from the front, is now 18 under par, with South African Charl Schwartzel his closest challenger.
Joint third, one further back, are English trio Paul Casey, Ross Fisher and Benn Barham and Frenchman Thomas Levet.
Kaymer had his overnight advantage cut to two by the time he teed off again in the glorious sunshine, but after birdies on the sixth, eighth and ninth - he pitched to within inches of the hole there - he was back firmly in the driving seat.
A chip-and-putt four on the long 11th widened the gap still further and the "old head on young shoulders", which Bernhard Langer talked about after being so impressed on the first two days, put the icing on the cake with a closing 25-footer.
Kaymer currently lies 10th in the Ryder Cup race, but can go move ahead of Oliver Wilson, Henrik Stenson, Nick Dougherty and Graeme McDowell.
Wilson and Dougherty are on a week off, McDowell missed the cut and Stenson managed only a 72 today to remain seven under.
Langer, whose first cap in 1981 came when he was only just 24, compared his compatriot to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson with his mixture of aggression and good sense.
"Going by the last two days he can go a long way - I don't think there are any limits if he keeps that up and I don't think it's too early (to face the Americans)," said the double Masters champion. "He is a winner and he has proved that."
Colin Montgomerie threatened to get into contention when he reached eight under after 11 holes, but although he added two more birdies there was also a double bogey on the 13th and bogey on the short 17th.
That added up to a 68 and seven-under total - too far back to have a chance unless Kaymer comes back to the field.
Iain Pyman had the low round of the day, an eight under 64 which lifted the former British amateur champion from the cut line to nine under.
Kaymer, seen holding his back and stomach towards the end of the round, said afterwards he was fine and added: "I'm very happy - and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."
So is Casey. Even if he cannot catch the youngster he has a chance to post his best finish of the season, boost his own Ryder Cup hopes and take some wine off American coach Peter Kostis.
"He set me the target of scoring lower today than I did yesterday and if I do the same in the final round I might win some wine," he said.
Collated third round scores & totals in the European Tour BMW International Open, Golfclub Munchen Nord-Eichenreid, Munich, Germany
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
198 Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 63 67
204 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 69 66
205 Paul Casey 70 68 67, Ross Fisher 70 68 67, Benn Barham 68 68 69, Thomas Levet (Fra) 69 69 67
206 Anders Hansen (Den) 69 70 67, Francois Delamontagne (Fra) 70 66 70, Tino Schuster (Ger) 69 68 69, David Lynn 67 73 66
207 Joel Sjoholm (Swe) 71 71 65, Iain Pyman 69 74 64, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 69 69 69, Mark Foster 67 72 68, Graeme Storm 68 69 70
208 Ariel Canete (Arg) 73 65 70, John Bickerton 70 70 68
209 David Howell 69 69 71, Colin Montgomerie 70 71 68, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 73 68, Gary Murphy 71 70 68, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 69 68 72, Peter O'Malley (Aus) 66 75 68
210 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 67 74 69, Richard Finch 69 68 73, Stephan jr. Gross (Ger) 71 68 71, Rafael Echenique (Arg) 66 73 71, Bradley Dredge 73 65 72
211 Peter Hanson (Swe) 72 70 69, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 70 70 71, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 70 68 73, David Frost (Rsa) 74 69 68, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 66 71 74, Simon Khan 75 65 71
212 Robert Jan Derksen (Ned) 74 69 69, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 69 72 71, Peter Lawrie 73 68 71, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 69 69 74, Alex Cejka (Ger) 74 67 71, Oliver Fisher 71 70 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 72 70, Barry Lane 70 70 72
213 Bernhard Langer (Ger) 70 72 71, Alexander Noren (Swe) 68 73 72, Alastair Forsyth 74 68 71, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 70 68 75
214 Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 67 72 75, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 72 68 74, Gareth Paddison (Nzl) 70 70 74, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 72 71, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 71 67 76
215 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 72 72, Markus Brier (Aut) 71 70 74, Peter Fowler (Aus) 71 70 74, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 69 75
216 Pedro Linhart (Spa) 70 73 73, Andrew McLardy (Rsa) 68 75 73
217 Carl Suneson (Spa) 69 73 75
218 Anton Haig (Rsa) 66 73 79, Hennie Otto (Rsa), 73 68 77, Jean-Francois Lucquin (Fra) 73 70 75
219 Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 71 69 79
220 Florian Praegant (Aut) 74 67 79
222 Tom Whitehouse 72 71 79
223 Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 72 81, Mark Brown (USA) 72 71 80
FINCH MAKES A SPLASH
JIMENEZ ON THE UP
Serie A Round-Up
