The Swede began his day with birdies on the first and third holes, then birdied 11-13, 17 and 18 to assume a two-stroke-lead after 54 holes.

"Hopefully I can continue to play like I did today and putt like I did, then it will be a really good defense on Sunday," he said.

Hedblom's 54-hole total is 17-under 199.

Last year, he won this European Tour event by one stroke over France's Jean-Francois Lucquin and has held at least a share of the 54-hole lead two others times.

Argentina's Daniel Vancsik (64) is alone in second at 15-under 201.

A group of three -- England's Simon Dyson (67), Denmark's Soren Kjeldsen (69) and Jyoti Randhawa (70) of India all share third place heading into Sunday's closing round at 14-under 202.