ATZENBRUGG, June 7, 2014 (AFP) - Luiten stormed to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a front nine of 31, which moved him to 10 under par, a two-shot lead over Austrian Bernd Wiesberger.
"I'm happy, 66 is good," said the 28-year-old Luiten, who is currently just outside the automatic qualifying places for Paul McGinley's European team which will defend the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles.
"It could have been a bit lower as I was playing really well, especially the first 12 holes, but it's been a really good day. I've been playing consistently and hitting some good shots and making some good putts.
"All I can do is focus on this tournament now and playing here, next week is a new week. I am in a good position so I just want to finish it off tomorrow and see if we can win again here.
"I know Bernd is a good player so it will be a very good battle and there are a few more guys behind who are not out of it yet. It's going to be an interesting day."
Leading third round scores in the EPGA Austrian Open in Atzenbrugg on Saturday (par 72, GBR & IRL unless stated):
205 - Joost Luiten (NED) 72-67-66
207 - Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 71-70-66
209 - Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 69-68-72
210 - Adam Gee 67-73-70
211 - Mikael Lundberg (SWE) 67-68-76, Sihwan Kim (NOR) 70-68-73, David Horsey 73-73-65, Matthew Baldwin 68-73-70, Simon Wakefield 70-71-70
212 - Eduardo De La Riva (ESP) 73-69-70, Scott Henry 69-75-68, Ruaidhri McGee 73-70-69, Simon Thornton 71-74-67, Rikard Karlberg (SWE) 73-73-66, Lee Slattery 70-66-76
213 - Miguel Angel Jimenez (ESP) 70-75-68, Berry Henson (USA) 68-72-73, Ross McGowan 69-74-70
214 - Brett Rumford (AUS) 73-70-71, Tjaart Van Der Walt (RSA) 70-76-68, Victor Riu (FRA) 69-74-71
215 - Garrick Porteous 74-69-72, Jason Knutzon (USA) 74-72-69