Macau: India's Gaganjeet Bhullar saw his overnight four-shot lead reduced to one after battling to a third round three-over-par 74 at the Macao Open yesterday.
Bhullar, who had led from the opening round, marked his card with four birdies against two bogeys, one double-bogey and a triple-bogey to stay ahead by a mere one shot on 10-under 203 total at the Macau Golf and Country Club.
The 29-year-old Bhullar is chasing for an eighth victory on the region's premier Tour, as well as a second Macao Open title and a first win this season at the storied event.
"It was quite difficult out there, not the round that I wanted but there are still 18 more holes to go," said Bhullar. "I struggled a bit today. I hit the ball pretty good but not as good as I did the last two days. Overall, I think I hung in there.
"I made a few big errors today. I had a double-bogey on the fifth and a triple-bogey on 11. Apart from that, I gave my 100 percent and I am excited about tomorrow. Having the right mindset will be very important for me tomorrow."
Taiwan's Hung Chien-yao returned with the day's best score of 65 to share second place with Ajeetesh Sandhu of India, who carded a 71 to keep up his chase for a third career victory in three weeks, at the US$500,000 (16.5 million baht) Asian Tour event.
"The game feels much better compared to the last two rounds. I have been driving the ball well this week but today, my iron-play was much better, especially on the back nine. I gave myself a lot of opportunities for birdies," said Hung.
"I am one back but that doesn't mean much as there are still 18 holes to play," said Sandhu. "I will just play my own game and play it to my best tomorrow. Three wins in a row, it's definitely at the back of my mind. It's been brought up a lot this week."
Sandhu won his maiden Asian Tour title at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in Taiwan, just a day before turning 29. He followed up that victory with another play-off win at the Taiheiyo Club Challenge Tournament on the Japan Challenge Tour last week.
"It will be amazing if I can do it but I won't be thinking about that for now. I will just play my best tomorrow and see where it lands me," added Sandhu.
Wolmer Murillo of Venezuela signed for a 66 to stay two shots off the lead in joint fourth place.
Johannes Veerman and Kim Gi-Whan shared sixth place on 208 following respective rounds of 69 and 74 while defending champion Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand bounced back with a 67 to lie a further shot back in tied-eighth position.
