Niklas Nørgaard decided to put on a clinic at The Belfry during Round Three of the Betfred British Masters.
The 32-year-old Dane rolled up his sleeves and delivered an impressive eight-under 64, catapulting himself into a four-shot lead and leaving the rest of the field in his wake.
It was the kind of performance that makes you sit up and take notice—one that could define a career.
Nørgaard didn’t waste any time getting started. Right out of the gate, he dropped a birdie on the first hole, signalling that he meant business.
By the time he reached the third hole, he was toying with an eagle but settled for another birdie instead. Three under by the turn, and it was clear that Nørgaard was in the zone.
When he hit the back nine, it was like he found another gear. He birdied the tenth hole after driving the green—yes, you read that right—and then followed up with another birdie on the 11th.
From there, it was all about putting on a show. Nørgaard rattled off three more birdies starting at the 14th, including a jaw-dropping 42-footer on the 16th that had the crowd buzzing.
He did have a slight hiccup on the 17th, where a wayward drive cost him a shot, but any doubts were quickly erased when he nailed his ninth birdie of the day on the 18th.
It was the kind of round that players dream about but rarely achieve—a masterclass in control and precision.
Now, at 16 under par, Nørgaard holds the 54-hole lead for the second year in a row at this tournament.
But if he wants to walk away with the trophy, he’ll have to fend off a serious challenge from South Africa’s Thriston Lawrence, who is four shots back and not ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Niklas Nørgaard: We sat there in recording, we just rewatched the whole round but yeah, I made a lot of putts.
That’s what I’ve been struggling with a little bit this year, the putting. Driving has been good.
Today it just kind of clicked with the putting. It’s just funny how the snowball just rolls after one putt, then the other one feels easier and then the next even easier. Just that kind of day.
I was not looking at the scores at all, but I knew it was not easy. We had a bit of wind today, and I think it’s just I was very, very present as I haven’t been before. I was just in every shot.
Frenchman Jeong weon Ko sits in third at ten under, while England’s Andrew Wilson is further behind after a tough finish that included a double bogey.
Beyond the action on the course, this year’s tournament has also done some good off the greens, raising £30,500 for Guide Dogs, thanks to the 33 eagles and 28 pinpoint drives that found the tenth green.
As we head into the final round, all eyes will be on Nørgaard to see if he can close the deal and turn this lead into a well-deserved victory.
Scores after round three:
200 N NORGAARD (DEN) 70 66 64,
204 T LAWRENCE (RSA) 68 69 67,
206 J KO (FRA) 67 68 71,
208 A WILSON (ENG) 69 71 68,
209 J SVENSSON (SWE) 70 69 70, B STONE (RSA) 71 64 74,
210 M MANASSERO (ITA) 73 68 69, L BJERREGAARD (DEN) 72 66 72, T VAILLANT (FRA) 69 67 74, J CAMPILLO (ESP) 68 67 75, T HATTON (ENG) 69 65 76,
211 R H?JGAARD (DEN) 73 67 71, J LUITEN (NED) 72 66 73,
212 M WALLACE (ENG) 76 68 68, G GREEN (MAS) 71 71 70, M SCHWAB (AUT) 70 71 71, M BALDWIN (ENG) 72 68 72,
213 H HALL (ENG) 71 68 74,
214 M ROTTLUFF (GER) 73 72 69, A FITZPATRICK (ENG) 74 70 70, M KIEFFER (GER) 74 70 70, R ROCK (ENG) 70 69 75,
215 R HOSHINO (JPN) 73 72 70, A JOHNSTON (ENG) 72 73 70, D FRITTELLI (RSA) 72 72 71, M KINHULT (SWE) 72 72 71, K APHIBARNRAT (THA) 71 72 72, M SIEM (GER) 74 69 72, J DAVIDSON (WAL) 71 71 73, D MICHELUZZI (AUS) 69 73 73, A HIDALGO (ESP) 71 70 74, J SMITH (ENG) 69 72 74, Y KATSURAGAWA (JPN) 69 69 77,
216 S SHARMA (IND) 71 72 73, J WINTHER (DEN) 70 73 73, R RAMSAY (SCO) 72 71 73, T OLESEN (DEN) 72 71 73, J SCRIVENER (AUS) 70 73 73, C HILL (SCO) 72 71 73, E MOLINARI (ITA) 76 66 74, L CANTER (ENG) 69 73 74, T CLEMENTS (ENG) 71 70 75, A PAVAN (ITA) 69 71 76,
217 K NAKAJIMA (JPN) 72 73 72, D HILLIER (NZL) 71 74 72, J VEERMAN (USA) 71 72 74, P MOOLMAN (RSA) 73 69 75, S GALLACHER (SCO) 69 73 75, P WARING (ENG) 67 75 75,
218 J DANTORP (SWE) 71 74 73, T AIKEN (RSA) 72 72 74, G FORREST (SCO) 74 70 74, F LAPORTA (ITA) 70 73 75, A SULLIVAN (ENG) 70 72 76,
219 G PORTEOUS (ENG) 73 72 74, H NORLANDER (SWE) 70 74 75, J GUERRIER (FRA) 73 71 75, O WILSON (ENG) 73 70 76, C SYME (SCO) 72 71 76,
220 H LI (CHN) 75 70 75, M JORDAN (ENG) 73 72 75, M KORHONEN (FIN) 73 71 76, J WALTERS (RSA) 73 70 77, S GARCIA (ESP) 72 70 78, H LONG (GER) 69 73 78, D BROWN (ENG) 73 68 79,
221 S THORNTON (IRL) 72 73 76, S KJELDSEN (DEN) 73 72 76, F SCHOTT (GER) 72 71 78,
222 H BARRON (AUS) 73 72 77, C HANNA (USA) 74 71 77, D LAW (SCO) 73 72 77, J DEAN (ENG) 72 71 79, S FRIEDRICHSEN (DEN) 70 70 82, A ROZNER (FRA) 70 70 82,
223 G COETZEE (RSA) 73 71 79, S BROHOLT LIND (DEN) 71 73 79,
226 J BLIXT (SWE) 71 74 81, J DE BRUYN (GER) 77 67 82,
**
146 D GALE (AUS) 70 76, S BAIRSTOW (ENG) 73 73, D BRADBURY (ENG) 73 73, V NORRMAN (SWE) 72 74, C SHINKWIN (ENG) 72 74, J HARDING (RSA) 77 69, J PRINSLOO (RSA) 74 72, A OTAEGUI (ESP) 74 72, R FISHER (ENG) 74 72, L DE JAGER (RSA) 74 72, N BACHEM (GER) 73 73, D FICHARDT (RSA) 76 70, A WU (CHN) 73 73,
147 P O’HARA (SCO) 76 71, G MIGLIOZZI (ITA) 73 74, S KANG (KOR) 72 75, E KOFSTAD (NOR) 73 74, M BESARD (BEL) 72 75, C BLOMSTRAND (SWE) 72 75, W ENEFER (ENG) 77 70, R MANSELL (ENG) 72 75, M ARMITAGE (ENG) 72 75, O STRYDOM (RSA) 76 71, S V?LIM?KI (FIN) 73 74, K JOHANNESSEN (NOR) 69 78,
148 C SORDET (FRA) 71 77, P LARRAZ?BAL (ESP) 75 73, M PENGE (ENG) 75 73, L DONALD (ENG) 78 70, Y PAUL (GER) 78 70, M DAFFUE (RSA) 74 74, R CABRERA BELLO (ESP) 73 75, F LACROIX (FRA) 73 75, D MOSTERT (RSA) 73 75, P FIGUEIREDO (POR) 76 72, D HUIZING (NED) 74 74,
149 T MCKIBBIN (NIR) 74 75, R GOUVEIA (POR) 73 76, C JARVIS (RSA) 70 79, F CELLI (ITA) 74 75, E PEPPERELL (ENG) 71 78, S JAMIESON (SCO) 73 76, B RUSCH (SUI) 74 75, I CANTERO (ESP) 77 72, A DEL REY (ESP) 75 74, J MORRISON (ENG) 75 74, J GIRRBACH (SUI) 75 74, S JONES (NZL) 72 77,
150 S MANLEY (WAL) 76 74, F ZANOTTI (PAR) 76 74, L RUUSKA (FIN) 75 75, J GUMBERG (USA) 76 74,
151 K KIM (AM) (ENG) 78 73, E FERGUSON (SCO) 74 77, A KNAPPE (GER) 79 72, G FDEZ-CASTA?O (ESP) 74 77, T LEWIS (ENG) 76 75, J G?TH-RASMUSSEN (DEN) 74 77, L SCALISE (ITA) 74 77,
152 D WILLETT (ENG) 76 76, M ELVIRA (ESP) 77 75, S FORSSTR?M (SWE) 69 83, R PARATORE (ITA) 82 70, M EGE (NOR) 75 77,
153 G WIEBE (USA) 76 77, J NICHOLAS (USA) 76 77, G CHEN (CHN) 80 73, S TARRIO (ESP) 80 73,
154 A ARNAUS (ESP) 75 79, O CHOUHAN (IND) 71 83, J SCHAPER (RSA) 79 75,
155 A GARCIA-HEREDIA (ESP) 76 79,
157 J BERRY (ENG) 81 76, N GALLETTI (USA) 76 81,
158 M SOUTHGATE (ENG) 77 81,
160 O BEKKER (RSA) 79 81,
**
OUT D WHITNELL (ENG) 79 RT,
