Pádraig Harrington continues steady return in Kuala Lumpur

Nacho Elvira increased his chances of securing a maiden European Tour title after closing his third round with back-to-back birdies to open up a two-shot lead heading into the final day of the Maybank Championship.

The 32-year-old began the day trailing halfway leader Thomas Pieters by a single shot, but he carded seven birdies and a single bogey at Saujana Golf and Country Club on Saturday to climb to the top of the leaderboard.

Pádraig Harrington meanwhile continued his steady return to action in Kuala Lumpur, as he carded a third round of 71.

The Ryder Cup captain, on his comeback from a broken wrist, now sits on two under par for the tournament, after he followed up opening efforts of 70 and 73.

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Elsewhere American David Lipsky was alone in second place on 11 under par, one shot clear of Maximilian Kieffer, Jazz Janewattananond and Scott Hend.

Four-time major champion Ernie Els sat in a share of sixth place on nine under alongside Benjamin Hebert, who shot a 65 to tie the lowest round of the week so far.

Englishman Oliver Fisher moved to eight under after producing a 68 which contained six birdies and two bogeys, with countrymen Ross Fisher and Andy Sullivan in the group another shot back.

Elvira is no stranger to the winner’s circle, having won four Challenge Tour titles, but he insists he is not thinking about lifting the trophy on Sunday.

After signing for a 66 to move to 13 under par, he told the European Tour’s official website: “It would be great to start here (winning on the European Tour) but I really don’t think about it too much.

“I like the way things are right now with my swing. I like the way I’ve turned round my season a little bit. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Collated third round scores in the Maybank Championship (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):

203 Nacho Elvira (Spa) 65 72 66

205 David Lipsky (USA) 72 66 67

206 Jazz Janewattananond (Tha) 66 72 68, Scott Hend (Aus) 69 70 67, Maximilian Kieffer (Ger) 71 67 68

207 Ernie Els (Rsa) 68 70 69, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 69 73 65

208 Oliver Fisher 70 70 68

209 Siddikur Rahman (Ban) 70 71 68, Andrew Sullivan 72 70 67, Ross Fisher 72 71 66, Louis De Jager (Rsa) 71 69 69

210 Nicholas Fung (Mal) 68 73 69, Fabrizio Zanotti (Pry) 72 72 66, Johannes Veerman (USA) 72 69 69

211 Lucas Herbert (Aus) 69 69 73, Dean Burmester (Rsa) 68 70 73, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 68 71 72, Matthew Southgate 74 69 68, Paul Peterson (USA) 70 68 73, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 66 75 70

212 Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 75 68, Guido Migliozzi (Spa) 71 68 73, Viraj Madappa (Ind) 70 72 70, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 76 65 71, Zack Murrary (Aus) 68 71 73, S Chikkarangappa (Ind) 75 69 68, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 71 69 72, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 69 70 73

213 Kurt Kitayama (USA) 70 71 72, S.S.P Chawrasia (Ind) 69 74 70, Daniel James Masrin (Ina) 69 68 76, Kristoffer Broberg (Swe) 72 70 71, Jorge Campillo (Spa) 70 73 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 72 71 70, Shubhankar Sharma (Ind) 71 68 74, Julian Suri (USA) 69 71 73, Andrea Pavan (Ita) 69 71 73, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 69 74 70, Jordan Smith 74 68 71, Gavin Green (Mal) 74 70 69

214 Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 73 69 72, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 71 71 72, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 71 73 70, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 67 69 78, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 65 77 72, Padraig Harrington 70 73 71

215 Pavit Tangkamolprasert (Tha) 72 69 74, Jarin Todd (USA) 73 71 71, George Coetzee (Rsa) 72 71 72

216 Ricardo Gouveia (Por) 69 73 74, Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 72 72 72, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 68 74 74, Chris Paisley 71 71 74, Ajeetesh Sandhu (Ind) 72 72 72, Lee Slattery 72 71 73, Robert Rock 73 71 72, Angelo Que (Phl) 66 77 73, Scott Vincent (Zim) 70 72 74

217 Richard McEvoy 70 74 73, Ashun Wu (Chn) 71 73 73, Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 73 70 74, Thomas Detry (Bel) 70 71 76, Hyun-woo Ryu (Kor) 74 70 73, Min Woo Lee (Aus) 73 71 73, Renato Paratore (Ita) 73 71 73

218 David Law 73 71 74, Robert Karlsson (Swe) 71 73 74, Min Chel Choi (Kor) 71 73 74, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 68 75 75, Poom Saksansin (Tha) 68 74 76

221 Micah Lauren Shin (USA) 74 70 77

222 Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 70 74 78, Keith Horne (Rsa) 71 73 78