John Parry of England will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the Vivendi Cup after he shot a 2-under 70 on Saturday.
Parry, a 23-year-old chasing his first win on the European Tour, was at 15-under 201, one ahead of Denmark's Mark Haastrup (66) and Swede Johan Edfors (67).
With two holes to play in the third round at Gold de Joyenval Club on the outskirts of Paris, Jarmo Sandelin was sharing the lead with Parry.
However, at the short 17th the Swede failed to hit the green with his drive and missed a 10-foot putt. At the final hole he dropped another shot when he landed in a greenside bunker.
Sandelin, who had been joint leader with Parry at the start of the day, carded a par 72 which left him in joint fourth place, two shots behind.
Parry, a former Walker Cup player, led the Austrian Open after two rounds last weekend but failed to handle the pressure and finished 20th.
He believes the lessons he learned from that experience could help him take the $275,000 first prize.
''I was a bit nervous out there but felt that I had got used to the pressure of playing in front of the cameras,'' Parry said after his five-birdie round.
''I just went out there with the mindset of trying to play every shot as I saw it. And if I can do that again and I hit the shots that I want to then I should be there or there abouts at the end.''
Parry admitted he had one huge slice of luck at one of the par fives when he drove his ball into a bush.
''When I got there I found I had a shot I could play and I ended up making a birdie,'' he said. ''I had been looking at a six and ended up with a four. That gave me some momentum that helped.''
Parry will start the final round on Sunday 10 shots ahead of Padraig Harrington, the highest ranked player in the field, who is using the Paris event to prepare for next week's Ryder Cup.
Harrington shot a 70 despite four-putting the fourth green, and then defended his choice as a European wild card ahead of England's Paul Casey. Harrington has played three patchy rounds here, reflecting his failure to win in either Europe or America for the past two years.
''There's so much outside focus, labels and things like that and trying to put me in a box,'' Harrington said. ''But I am who I am. I can't really do anything about what other people's expectations are and I have to get away from that.
''At times, I could see myself missing a fairway and going, 'Well, that doesn't look good.' Who cares? I miss fairways. That's my style of golf. I can't try and fit into what anybody else wants.
''As I said, I am who I am and I play my game a certain way and I can't be worried about what everybody else thinks. I just have to add the score up at the end of the day and concentrate on that.''
