Wattel takes over lead at KLM Open

Zandvoort, The Netherlands (SportsNetwork.com) - Romain Wattel carded a 6- under 64 in Saturday's third round and he took a 3-shot lead heading into the final day of the KLM Open.

Wattel, who began the day two shots back of the leader Pablo Larrazabal, finished 54 holes at 14-under 196. Wattel has never won on the European Tour, but he does have four top-10 finishes on the season.

"I don't know what the game plan is for tomorrow -- I will think about that tonight," Wattel said. "I was just trying to play as well as I could today. I knew I was playing well the last few weeks, so I just said to myself to play the best golf I could."

Richie Ramsay, who has ended in the top 10 at his last two events, is alone in second at 11-under 199 following a third-round, 5-under 65. Right behind him is Paul Casey at 10-under 200 after he shot up the leaderboard with an 8-under 62 on Saturday.

Andy Sullivan (66) and Peter Uihlein (67) are tied for fourth at 9-under 201, while defending champion and first-round leader Joost Luiten (67), Gary Stal (65) and Simon Dyson (66) are six shots off the lead at minus-8.

After his impressive 8-under 62 on Friday, Larrazabal tripped to a 5-over 75 on Saturday, dropping him into a tie for 14th at 5-under 205.

It was a relatively quiet start for Wattel as he began the day with five straight pars. Then Wattel began his charge as he made three straight birdies from No. 6 to get into red numbers at 3-under.

Wattel made the turn with a par on nine and then kicked in his fourth gain on the par-4 10th, a hole he has birdied all three days. Wattel continued to roll with birdies on 12, 14 and 16 to extend his lead to four shots with two holes to play.

Wattel's first and only dropped shot of the day came on the par-3 17th, where he made bogey. Still with a 3-shot lead, Wattel made par at the last to finish off his 6-under 64.

"I played really good today," said Wattel. "I struggled on the start with a poor tee shot on the first, but then I hit some good shots and got some confidence. The last few weeks, the only thing I've struggled with is the ball flight of my irons. This week you have some tough shots, so I really managed to play some strong shots this week."

Ramsay also did most of his work on the back nine after making two birdies on five and six to go along with seven pars on the front. After tripping to his first bogey in 27 holes on No. 10, which he also bogeyed on Thursday, Ramsay started to make his move.

A birdie on 11 had Ramsay back to minus-3 on the day and he drained two more birdies on 13 and 14. A pair of pars on 15 and 16 preceded Ramsay's sixth birdie of the day on No. 17, getting him to 5-under. He parred the last to end there.

Casey, beginning his round on the back nine, had five birdies in his first seven holes from No. 11, including three straight gains at 11, 12 and 13. After making the turn at 5-under, Casey did not slow down as he made a birdie on two followed by another string of three straight gains from No. 5. A bogey at the ninth dropped Casey back a shot and he is four back.

Larrazabal had a rough day, which featured just two birdies on seven and 13. He also tripped to a quadruple-bogey on eight, a double-bogey on 11 and a bogey on 10.

NOTES: This is the first time Wattel has held a 54-hole lead ... Wattel has finished tied for third at two events this season. He also ended tied for ninth at last week's European Masters ... Larrazabal shot 13 strokes higher on Saturday than he did on Friday ... Ramsay has finished tied for fourth and in sole possession of eighth place at his last two events.