Golf: Graeme McDowell is well placed to cut into Martin Kaymer's lead in the Race to Dubai standings after a 68 left him two shots off the Adam Scott's lead heading into the final round of the Singapore Open.
The Irishman is alone in fourth place on 12-under-par, after four birdies and just one bogey left him five ahead of the German Kaymer, who is level with Dubliner Peter Lawrie after the latter carded a 68. Shane Lowry and Gareth Maybin both dropped off the pace with a 75 and 79 respectively.
Scott has a one-shot lead but will have defending champion Ian Poulter and Korean Kang Kyung-nam hot on his heels, not to mention McDowell.
Holding the clubhouse lead overnight, Scott was two under over the front nine as birdies at the second, fourth and seventh were offset by a bogey five at the third.
However, the 30-year-old was unable to build on that platform coming home over the Serapong layout at Sentosa Golf Club, bogeying the 10th but recovering the shot at the 16th.
He missed a short birdie chance on the last following an excellent wedge approach at the par-five that could have opened a crucial two-shot cushion.
Poulter fired a blistering 63 yesterday and carried that form over into today's third round, with a birdie at the second before eagling the fourth to quickly move to 13 under par.
That proved the end of the Englishman's progress, however, as a birdie at the 10th was cancelled out with a dropped shot at the 14th and he did well to save par at the last after finding the bunker off the tee to end the day one behind playing partner Scott following a 68.
Kang, meanwhile, managed to overcome a double-bogey seven at the seventh to card an impressive 67 that contained eight birdies including one at the last after the Korean floated a beautiful wedge to within a few feet of the flag.
Anders Hansen produced the round of the day - a 65 - as six birdies saw the Dane charge up the leaderboard into fifth on 11-under, while Jamie Donaldson is just four shots off the pace after the Welshman recorded a 68 to move to 10-under.
Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, endured a frustrating day, the American posting a four-over 75 to drop to two under par.
"It wasn't easy out there today," Scott told the European Tour website. "It was hot and it was a long round and I wasn't feeling on top of a lot of aspects of my game at times but I am just happy to have got back to the clubhouse with 69 which is always a good score - it's respectable.
"At the 18th, I just over-read the putt a little bit but the course played hard on the back nine and it was hard to get it close, so I was happy to shoot par on the back nine.
"I'd love to go out tomorrow and play really solid and whatever happens, happens. If I play solid I think I can get it done but if it's not enough then I will have to come back and try again next year."
Poulter was also satisfied with his day's work.
"I played nicely," he said. "I think I missed one green and that was about five feet out so I actually hit about 18 greens in regulation. But Adam played well as well so I think tomorrow is going to be a great day.
"Hopefully I can go out there and play just as well and roll a few more putts in and who knows - I might just get my hands on the trophy again. We are mates off the golf course, I have known Adam for about 12 years. You get 40 or 50 seconds to stand over your shot, concentrate, and pull the trigger. Obviously you have time to relax between shots and Adam is a great and nice guy to talk to."
McDowell, meanwhile, stressed he would focus on his own game tomorrow and let everything else take care of itself.
"It's important that I focus on my own game as there's nothing I can do about Kaymer," he said. "It's not rugby and I can't go out there and tackle him - all I can do is to concentrate on my own ball.
"I've got a big day tomorrow and it's a big day for The Race to Dubai. I've got to stay focused and play my game."
Collated third round scores and totals. (Irish in bold, par 71)
The Serapong
199Adam Scott (Aus) 65 65 69
200Ian Poulter 69 63 68, Kyung-nam Kang (Kor) 66 67 67
201 Graeme McDowell 65 68 68
202Anders Hansen (Den) 71 66 65
203Jamie Donaldson 66 69 68
204Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 69 65 70, Rikard Karlberg (Swe) 64 70 70
205Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 69 67, Joost Luiten (Ned) 68 64 73, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 69 65 71, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 67 69 69, Y.E. Yang (Kor) 66 73 66
206Rahil Gangjee (Ind) 70 67 69, Darren Beck (Aus) 70 67 69, Keith Horne (Rsa) 65 72 69, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 68 68 70, Peter Lawrie 67 71 68, Johan Edfors (Swe) 66 71 69
207Chris Wood 63 73 71, David Drysdale 68 70 69, Hiroshi Iwata (Jpn) 66 70 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 70 69, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 67 70 70
208Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 70 64 74, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 69 70, Colin Montgomerie 70 68 70, Nick Dougherty 65 72 71, Raphael Jacquelin (Fra) 66 70 72, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 66 71 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 70 65 73, John Huh (Kor) 70 65 73, Shigeki Maruyama (Jpn) 64 74 70, Fredrik Andersson Hed (Swe) 68 65 75
209Scott Hend (Aus) 64 73 72, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 69 70 70, Christian Nilsson (Swe) 73 65 71, Bi-o Kim (Kor) 63 72 74, Markus Brier (Aut) 65 71 73, Mars Pucay (Phi) 72 65 72
210Yih-Shin Chan (Tpe) 68 68 74, Mikael Lundberg (Swe) 71 68 71, Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 72 66 72, Jason Knutzon (USA) 69 68 73, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 72 67 71
211John Parry 71 65 75, Shiv Kapur (Ind) 71 68 72, Jay Bayron (Phi) 72 67 72, Scott Strange (Aus) 65 72 74, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 68 71 72, Phil Mickelson (USA) 67 69 75, Tony Carolan (Aus) 66 70 75, Alexander Noren (Swe) 72 67 72, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 70 68 73
212Steve Webster 72 65 75, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 68 70 74, Anthony Kang (USA) 66 73 73, Marcus Both (Aus) 70 69 73, Tetsuji Hiratsuka (Jpn) 74 65 73, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 70 68 74, Digvijay Singh (Ind) 69 69 74, Michael Hoey 69 67 76
213Wen-Tang Lin (Tpe) 70 68 75
214A Siddikur (Ban) 67 71 76, Stephen Dodd 73 66 75, Shane Lowry 73 66 75, Matteo Manassero (Ita) 67 71 76
215Peter Hedblom (Swe) 72 67 76
216 Gareth Maybin 65 72 79
217Ricardo Gonzalez (Arg) 71 68 78, Scott Barr (Aus) 64 75 78
218Tano Goya (Arg) 70 69 79