Hanson can make it three in-a-row

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Peter Hanson is on track to give Sweden their third successive victory on the European Tour on Sunday.

Peter Hanson is on track to give Sweden their third successive victory on the European Tour on Sunday.
After the victories by Peter Hedblom in Scotland and Alex Noren in Switzerland, the 31-year-old Hanson leads England’s Simon Dyson, Dane Soren Hansen and South African James Kingston by one entering the final round of the Mercedes-Benz Championship in Cologne.
If he goes on to win, it would also keep the trophy in Swedish hands. Robert Karlsson, unable to play this week because of an eye problem which has kept him out since May, triumphed by two last year.
Hanson was relieved to discover last month that he was not suffering from swine flu.
He fell sick at The Open in July and after a partial recovery became worse again on a flight to America.
“I thought I had swine flu because of the symptoms, especially when I got it back,” he said.
“I was pretty sick, but I had all the tests and it wasn’t. I’d played six weeks in a row and it was probably too much.”
Three behind England’s Chris Wood and Australian Scott Strange at halfway, Hanson came through with a joint best-of-the-day 67 while they shot 73 and 74 respectively.
Wood, the 21-year-old who was third at the Open, went 47 holes without a bogey and still had a chance then to become just the third player in Tour history to go through a tournament without one.
But he went into the crowd with his approach to the 12th, failed to get up and down and after driving in the water on the last bogeyed again to drop to joint seventh, but still only three behind.
Dyson won the KLM Open in Holland three weeks ago and his 68 came after he followed birdies on the 13th and 14th with an 18-foot eagle putt at the next.
“Confidence is amazing,” said the 31-year-old from York.
“When it’s low you can’t see yourself getting it, but when it’s high you don’t see it going away.
“I’ve probably not dedicated myself as well as I should have, but I’m really giving it everything now.
“I want to be pitting my wits against the best players in the world. I was hoping I would be by now, but I’ve seen my mates playing them and I want to be there.”
He is big friends with Nick Dougherty and he added: “I saw him win over a million dollars a few years ago and he told me he had dedicated himself a lot better.
“I’m always going in the gym now, especially the last five weeks.
“I go in before and after every round, I’ve cut out caffeine and I haven’t had an alcoholic drink since the week before Holland.
“I lie – I had one beer after the win. I’ll make up for it tomorrow because I’ve got a week off.”
Perhaps the biggest surprise was the 78 of his compatriot Ross Fisher, who was in the last group with Wood and Strange.
With a chance to go third in the Tour money list, Fisher had a triple-bogey seven on the sixth, a double bogey at the short 16th and followed Wood into the water off the 18th tee.
World number six Henrik Stenson is tied for fifth with Londoner Anthony Wall, two behind on nine under, but Lee Westwood has six shots to make up and Colin Montgomerie seven.
ALL THE THIRD ROUND SCORES
(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
205 Peter Hanson (Swe) 70 68 67
206 James Kingston (Rsa) 67 69 70, Soren Hansen (Den) 65 71 70, Simon Dyson 68 70 68
207 Anthony Wall 69 70 68, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 68 69
208 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 68 71 69, Chris Wood 66 69 73, Anders Hansen (Den) 70 68 70, Paul Lawrie 68 71 69
209 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 70 67 72, Scott Strange (Aus) 67 68 74
210 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 72 69, David Drysdale 67 70 73, Darren Clarke 70 70 70, Alex Cejka (Ger) 70 72 68
211 Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 71 69, Peter Hedblom (Swe) 71 70 70, Lee Westwood 70 69 72
212 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 69 71, Rodney Pampling (Aus) 71 72 69, Graeme McDowell 70 72 70, Colin Montgomerie 72 69 71, Marcel Siem (Ger) 70 70 72, Paul McGinley 72 68 72, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 70 72 70
213 Alexander Noren (Swe) 71 72 70, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 71 68 74, Danny Willett 72 70 71, Tano Goya (Arg) 74 69 70
214 Anthony Kang (USA) 71 71 72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 72 74 68, Ross Fisher 67 69 78, Stephen Dodd 69 74 71, Richard Finch 69 72 73, Scott Drummond 71 69 74, Thomas Levet (Fra) 70 71 73
215 Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 74 68 73, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 69 76 70, Markus Brier (Aut) 69 73 73, Jamie Donaldson 74 70 71, Graeme Storm 69 68 78
216 Christian Cevaer (Fra) 71 72 73, Bernhard Langer (Ger) 71 75 70, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 74 69 73, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 73 71 72, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 76 72 68, Gareth Maybin 76 73 67, Florian Fritsch (Ger) 74 71 71, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 70 74 72
217 Robert Rock 70 72 75, Steve Webster 76 67 74, David Howell 71 74 72, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 76 71 70, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 76 72
218 Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 72 76 70, Gonzalo Fdez-Castano (Spa) 73 70 75, Alvaro Quiros (Spa) 72 73 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 75 72 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 78 71 69
219 Shane Lowry 75 72 72
220 Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 78 73 69, Damien McGrane 72 72 76, Nick Dougherty 69 76 75, Kenneth Ferrie 72 78 70
221 Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 70 74 77
222 Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 73 70 79, John Bickerton 74 73 75, Gregory Havret (Fra) 77 72 73
223 Alastair Forsyth 74 75 74, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 77 75 71, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 70 73 80
225 Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 76 78 71, Mark Brown (Nzl) 75 75 75
227 Michael Hoey 76 77 74
232 Michael Campbell (Nzl) 77 79 76
234 Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia (Ind) 79 81 74

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