Barcelona: Indian golfer Anirban Lahiri stayed on course for a European Tour card for the coming season as he turned in another flawless round of four-under 66 at the par-70 Tour Course to be second after the third round of the European Tour Qualifying School.
Lahiri ceded the leadership to Swede Pelle Edberg, who followed his second round 62 with a 63 to move to 14-under, one shot ahead of Lahiri.
Lahiri, who has had just one bogey in 54 holes, had four birdies against no bogeys in the third round but was far from happy with his putting, needing no less than 34 putts for his round of 66.
India's other player in the field, SSP Chowrasia carded one-under 69 at the par-70 Tour Course with four birdies against three bogeys. He is now even par and tied 70th, which is right on the cut line.
Lahiri continued his progress in Girona but reiterated that there is no room for complacency with half the contest still to go.
"It has been good so far and I've hit it really well.
Today was the best I've hit it all week, but probably the worst I have putted in three months. I hit it awesome, but had 34 putts to shoot 66, so that is half my round there. It is something I need to improve over the next two or three days, but the rest of the game feels good, so I've just got to keep that up," said the 27-year-old.
"My putting has had nothing to do with the greens, I am just struggling a little bit with what I need to do. I feel like I'm really close to finding the right place to be both mentally and technically, so just a little bit of work on that, and it should be sorted.
"I'm really happy, and I've played really good. I'm just trying to find as many greens as I can and take the pressure off myself, and I've done that well today. Obviously the next three days will be a sterner test on the Stadium course, and I really look forward to that," he added.
Lahiri said he cannot afford to be complacent though. "...winning is not the end in itself. You want to be up there and get yourself a good card, and the way I'm playing I feel like I can win, so I just need to continue what I have been doing. There is no space for complacency.
"I've been here in Spain for eight days now, I've played plenty of rounds already, and we are only half way there, so you are not really looking at the finish line, you are just trying to hit every shot and play every hole one by one as there are so many. It's 54 holes done, 54 more to go, so if you look at it that way then it is a fresh start tomorrow."
On another fine day at PGA Catalunya Resort, it was Edberg who shone brightest en route to a seven-under 63 on the easier Tour Course to establish a one shot lead over Lahiri.
Edberg had seven birdies, five of which came on his back nine, were the foundation for Edberg's star turn in north-eastern Spain, which left him in a strong position atop the leaderboard through 54 holes.
Ricardo Gonzalez is the most successful player in the field with four European Tour titles, and the Argentine is handily placed just three shots adrift of Edberg on 11 under par after a 65 on Monday.
Just a shot further behind in a share of fourth are Sweden's Rikard Karlberg and Mikko Korhonen of Finland, who added to the Scandinavian success story on the third day, alongside Englishman Richard McEvoy on ten under.
Edberg was pleased to continue the form that yielded an eight under par score just one day prior on the Tour Course, to start a 36 hole spell that has seen him recover from a disappointing opening round of 73.
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