Kota Kaneko showed he had nerves of steel to birdie the last and earn the outright lead during an intriguing Moving Day at the 2026 Austrian Alpine Open presented by Kitzbühel Tirol.
The Japanese has been a picture of consistency at Golfclub Kitzbühel-Schwarzsee-Reith this week and kept his cool with a calm ten-foot putt at the 18th to card his third successive round of 65 on Saturday.
His scorecard showed six birdies and one dropped shot for the third straight day as he leads the way at 15 under, one clear of Portugal's Ricardo Gouveia, who posted a bogey-free 63.
Kaneko hopes to go one better than his runner-up finish at last week's Soudal Open as he targets his maiden DP World Tour title.
"I’ve been putting really well and also my tee shots have been great. I’ve given myself a lot of chances and I took advantage of those," Kameko said.
"The golf course is in Turkey and also Belgium really suits me. I like it here in Austria too and I feel confident off the tee at the moment.
"I think I will be nervous tomorrow but if I play my game I think I can do well and have a good result."
SA'S STERNE IN THE HUNT
Gouveia made his move thanks to an explosive start, rolling birdies at each of the opening four holes.
That put him alongside overnight leader Andrew Johnston, but they were not off top spot when Gregorio De Leo eagled the tenth to climb to 12 under.
The Italian dropped a shot at the 12th as Johnston regained his place at the summit with an opening birdie.
Gouveia also reached 12 under by finishing his front nine with a birdie and while Johnstone bogeyed the fourth, his playing partner Kaneko birdied the third and fourth for a three-way tie.
The Portuguese nudged ahead with another gain at the 11th and was soon two clear on his own as Kaneko and De Leo slipped back into a seven-strong chasing pack.
Gouveia continued his rich vein of form with a dart into the 14th green for his seventh birdie of the day before parring his way home to set the clubhouse target at 14 under.
Final group Kaneko and Johnston, who birdied the eighth, cut the deficit to one by both picking up a shot at the tenth.
They sat alongside Yanhan Zhou at 13 under after the Chinese had rolled in his fifth birdie of the day the 15th.
Kaneko then joined Gouveia at the summit with a lovely putt from 14 feet at the 14th before holding his nerve at the last to nudge into the outright lead.
Gouveia carded seven birdies in the lowest round of the day, with China's Zhou one shot further adrift at 13 under.
"I can't say much, it was really solid from the get go," Gouveia said.
"Started off with four birdies, surprised by the putt on three, but that just kept me going. I was playing solid, a lot of wedge shots, holed some nice putts and just a phenomenal day.
Joost Luiten is in solo fourth at 12 under, while Johnston was four shots off the leader alongside home favourite Bernd Wiesberger, Calum Hill, Richard Sterne, Joe Dean and Davis Bryant.
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