Sweden's Peter Hanson carded a third-round 68 to overhaul Nick Dougherty at the top of the leaderboard at the SAS Masters in Stockholm.
Hanson, tied with Dougherty overnight, edged to 10 under, with the Englishman two adrift after a level-par 70.
Also on eight under were Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen, Swedes Daniel Chopra and Pelle Edberg and Scot Gary Orr.
England's Chris Wood, making his professional debut after finishing fifth in the Open, was five back.
The 20-year-old from Bristol holed his pitch to the first for an eagle two and when he turned in a five-under 29, he was only one off the lead. But he double-bogeyed the 12th and dropped another shot on 18 for a share of ninth.
"I can't be disappointed, given how I felt," said Wood.
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"I had some food poisoning yesterday, was sick in the night and didn't sleep much.
"I feel all right now, but I've not eaten anything and didn't feel comfortable with my swing."
Hanson has won only one of 174 European Tour events in his career - but at 24th in the Ryder Cup standings, he cannot quite be ruled out of the equation yet.
"I think I've put myself a little bit too far back, but if I win tomorrow I'll change my mind about taking next week off," said the 30-year-old, whose only victory was the 2005 Spanish Open.
"I want to give myself every chance. Of course you can feel pressure playing at home, but I think it's more inspirational."
Dougherty is also bidding to make a late charge into the European Ryder Cup team after leading the standings last October.
The 26-year-old Liverpudlian, 15th in the table, has not had a top-50 finish in his last seven starts.
"Both my wins have come from the front, but I will take where I am right now," said Dougherty, whose mother died after a heart attack in April.
"It's just lovely to be in contention going into the final round."
Kjeldsen is 16th in the standings and, like Dougherty, would be right on the fringe of the top 10 if he triumphs.
German Martin Kaymer, currently 11th in the table, needs a top-12 finish in Sweden to move back into an automatic qualification spot with only two more tournaments to come.
After a 68 he is joint 20th on three under, while the US-based Chopra won on the PGA Tour in January and could yet force himself back into the picture.
Qualification for the 10 automatic Ryder Cup spots ends on 31 August. European captain Nick Faldo will then name two wildcards.
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