Oliver Bekker leaves Laurie Canter playing catch-up at Catalunya Championship

England's Laurie Canter will head into the final round of the Catalunya Championship two shots off the lead after making a three-putt bogey on the last on day three in Girona.

The 32-year-old entered the weekend with a one-shot lead but a third-round 70 saw him fall behind South African playing partner Oliver Bekker, who carded a 67 to get to 11 under.

Canter had to come through the Qualifying School in three consecutive years from 2015 – the first two of those graduations taking place at this week’s venue – but has since established himself on the DP World Tour with three runner-up finishes in the last two seasons.

He will now have to come from behind if he is to claim a maiden victory but was confident he could lift the trophy if he could produce his best over the final 18 holes.

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“The great thing about this course, I genuinely think the best player is going to win over 72 holes,” he told europeantour.com.

“It’s that sort of a test. That might be an obvious thing to say but it’s really prevalent here. If you manage your game well, chip, putt, it tests all the facets.

“In a way that’s good for me to feel like that, I’ve got to go out and try to be the best player tomorrow. If I can play like I did today and get a bit more out of the round, I’ll have a chance.”

South African Bekker is also looking for a first DP World Tour win having claimed five top-10s from nine events so far this season.

“Tomorrow I’m just going to do the same thing. It’s been working for me, I’m not going to change anything,” he said.

“If it’s my day, it’s my day. If not, just try to give my best and see what happens.”

Italian duo Edoardo Molinari and Lorenzo Gagli were at eight under, a shot ahead of New Zealand's Ryan Fox and Pole Adrian Meronk.

Northern Ireland's Jonathan Caldwell slipped back down the field to three over after carding a three-over 75 that included five bogeys and two birdies.

Leaderboard

British and Irish unless stated, par 72

205 Oliver Bekker (Rsa) 66 72 67

207 Laurie Canter 70 67 70

208 Edoardo Molinari (Ita) 73 69 66, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 71 72 65

209 Ryan Fox (Nzl) 71 68 70, Adrian Meronk (Pol) 71 71 67

210 Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 72 69 69, Jeff Winther (Den) 66 75 69, Ivan Cantero (Spa) 71 68 71, Richard McEvoy 69 72 69, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 70 67

211 Ewen Ferguson 71 70 70, Daniel Gavins 69 70 72, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 69 70 72, James Morrison 67 71 73

212 Sami Valimaki (Fin) 73 70 69, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 70 70 72, Adria Arnaus (Spa) 68 76 68, Wil Besseling (Ned) 73 70 69, Gavin Green (Mal) 71 71 70, David Coupland 73 69 70, Richard Mansell 70 71 71, Adrien Saddier (Fra) 70 69 73

213 Nicolai Hoejgaard (Den) 69 72 72, Angel Hidalgo (Spa) 71 74 68, Lukas Nemecz (Aut) 68 74 71, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 67 73 73

214 Thorbjoern Olesen (Den) 69 71 74, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 71 72 71, Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 72 71 71, Nicolai von Dellingshausen (Ger) 70 71 73, Sebastian Garcia (Spa) 72 71 71, David Drysdale 69 74 71, Marcel Schneider (Ger) 71 69 74, Haotong Li (Chn) 67 76 71

215 Richard Bland 73 71 71, Thriston Lawrence (Rsa) 70 72 73, Jordan Smith 71 73 71, David Law 72 69 74, Matthias Schmid (Ger) 71 71 73, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 66 74 75, Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 69 71 75, Julien Brun (Fra) 68 75 72, Espen Kofstad (Nor) 72 73 70, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 71 70 74

216 Ashun Wu (Chn) 75 70 71, Hennie Du Plessis (Rsa) 68 74 74, Alexander Bjoerk (Swe) 73 72 71, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 74 72 70, Darius van Driel (Ned) 73 71 72, Ross Fisher 72 72 72, Yannik Paul (Ger) 70 73 73, Niklas Noergaard Moeller (Den) 71 70 75, Niklas Lemke (Swe) 73 71 72

217 Jorge Campillo (Spa) 71 74 72, Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 75 70 72, Alejandro Del Rey (Spa) 72 72 73, Maverick Antcliff (Aus) 72 68 77, Hurly Long (Ger) 73 72 72, Lars van Meijel (Ned) 72 74 71

218 Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 72 74 72, Justin Walters (Rsa) 69 74 75, Ricardo Santos (Por) 70 76 72, Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 68 74 76

219 Grant Forrest 70 76 73, Jonathan Caldwell 73 71 75, Guido Migliozzi (Ita) 72 73 74, Marcus Helligkilde (Den) 70 75 74, Oliver Wilson 73 73 73

220 Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 76 70 74, Alejandro Canizares (Spa) 72 74 74

221 David Howell 73 72 76