Mikael Lundberg takes narrow advantage

Swede Mikael Lundberg gave himself a birthday present by shooting a three-under-par 69 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round of the Russian Open.

Lundberg, who turned 32 on Saturday, birdied the sixth, 14th and 16th to finish on 12-under-par 204 after three rounds.

The birthday boy, who had trailed overnight leader and fellow Swede Fredrik Widmark by a stroke, said: "The score was good but the game wasn't too good.

"I made a bit of a rocky start but it got better and better and by the end of the round it felt all right."

Frenchman Sebastien Delagrange, who birdied six holes, posted a brilliant 66 to move alongside Widmark, one shot behind Lundberg.

Delagrange said: "I had some good putts at the end. I played steadily apart from missing two greens at the end of the round but managed to chip and putt for par. It was a great day for me."

England's Roger Chapman had a hole-in-one on the par-three fourth but will not get a new Cadillac from the tournament's title sponsor because only the 16th hole had the car offer.

Widmark made a slow start with three bogeys on the front nine. But the Swede, who has won twice on the Challenge Tour this year, saved the day by making a birdie with an eight-foot putt on the last to stay in the hunt.

He said: "I felt really good on the range, the best I have felt all week and I thought that things were going to go better today but I pulled my tee shot on the first, which kind of scared me a little bit, then I pushed my tee shot at the second and I was starting to wonder what was going on.

"Then I bogeyed the third and had to really dig deep from there."

The tournament marked the European Tour debut of former world tennis number one Yevgeny Kafelnikov but rounds of 88 and 96 meant he missed Friday's cut by a huge margin.

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