Hansen in pole position in Johannesburg

Soren Hansen is hoping to make it eighth-time lucky after lining himself up for dunhill Championship glory.

The Dane takes a one-shot lead into the final day over Frenchmen Raphael Jacquelin and Gregory Havret after shooting a 65 to end the third round on 18 under par.

Peter Lawrie is best of the Irish on 12 under , with Damien McGrane four under par and Mark McNulty eight under.

In a round which was by no means spectacular on a day where the fairways played long and the greens played soft, Hansen was solid enough to build on his first two rounds while some of his competitors faltered.

The course saw a number of low scoring rounds as competitors soaked up the summer sun which broke the cloud for the first time this week.

In pristine conditions, it was Hansen who plugged on while attention was being drawn to his low scoring competitors, to sneak into the lead with a birdie on the 18th.

Hansen’s round was bogey-free with seven beautiful birdies ensuring his supremacy.

The last time the Dane was in this position was in the 2003 Dutch Open, where he was leading by a shot going into the final day only to lose by a shot in the end to Martin Lafeber, wo became the first home-town player in 50 years to win the tournament.

He said: “I put myself into contention a lot last year – seven times I counted – and never really did it.

“I learnt a lot from it. In 2002 I was only really in contention four times and I won one, and did really well at the British Open.

“You obviously think about it, what went wrong and what can you do to make it better and I’ve worked on it during the winter and I am confident going into the final round.

“You know this is the course, you can’t run away and it’s going to be down to the last few holes. That’s the way it is, and I’m happy I’m in the final group.”

While some players may be looking for a good run of birdies in the last round, Hansen believes all he wants to do is enough to scramble home.

“You can’t think that you will hit the ball as well in the last round as you have in the second and third round,” he added.

“I don’t expect to go out and play as well as I have in the last few days. You need a bit of a scramble on the last day and that is what I expect to do.

“You need to learn how to win that way and that’s what I’ve worked on during the winter.”

A shot behind sits German Marcus Siem on 16 under, with Bradley Dredge of Wales, who carded a magnificent 63, fourth on 15 under.

Considering his final round 66 at Erinvale last week to win the tournament, SAA Open champion Trevor Immelman can not be discounted going into the final round after posting a 64 to move into eighth place.

Immelman proclaimed his liking for the course and believes he is on form with a good chance for the title.

“I actually played well the first two days as well but didn’t putt very well at all,” said Immelman.

“We did some practice last night and I just tried to get back to the basics and went out there today and played well. I still didn’t hole everything, like you wouldexpect when you’ve shot 64.

“I had two par fives where I hit it on in two and three putted for par, but you can’t complain about a 64.

"It is definitely the best golf tee to green that I have played in my career so far.”