Austrian Markus Brier snared birdies on his last three holes to give himself every chance of a second European Tour victory after taking a one-shot lead at the end of the China Open third round on Saturday.
The 38-year-old mastered the swirling cross-winds and snaking fairways for a four-under-par 67 to stand at six under for the tournament as other leadership challengers faded in the difficult conditions. Australia's Scott Hend hit the clubhouse and the water on the front nine but still came up with a one-under 70 which was good enough for second on five under.
South African Andrew McLardy had an eagle in his 67 to lie third on four under, a shot better than compatriot Richard Sterne, Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell and Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin, who blew a two-stroke overnight lead.
Brier, whose only victory on the European Tour came on home soil at last year's Austrian Open, started the day with a bogey and dropped two more shots just after the turn but seven birdies gave him his best round of the week. "The first hole was tough again so I hit my usual bogey there but apart from that I didn't really hit a bad shot," he said. "My putting made the difference between a good round and a very good round today."
Hend, who mixed five birdies with four bogeys, said he had been frustrated all day but thought that if he could find where his swing was he could mount a challenge for the title. "Everybody's going to make bogeys in that wind," said the big-hitting 33-year-old. "If I can be aggressive enough and make more birdies than boggeys then I'll have a chance. McLardy grabbed an eagle at the eighth and would have taken the clubhouse lead if he had sunk a 20-foot putt for another at the par-five 18th.
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