England's David Lynn retained his lead after the third day of the Volvo China Open but he could not improve on his nine under par after a windy day at the Honghua International Golf Club.

Lynn leads by one from India's Jeev Milkha Singh and Prayad Marksaeng as many players struggled with the testing conditions.

The Englishman birdied the 545-yard second to briefly move to 10 under but handed that stroke back at the next hole. Another birdie at the second par five on the front nine, the fifth, took him to the turn in 35 but a double bogey at the 596-yard 11th saw his rivals catch him.

However, it sparked a run of three successive birdies as Lynn lifted himself clear again at 10 under, only to drop shots at the 15th and 18th to close with a level-par round of 72.

Marksaeng would have joined him on that score had he not dumped his approach to the last into the lake, resulting in a double-bogey six - the second time he dropped two shots at one hole after his double at the 11th - for a round of 72.

Defending champion Paul Casey moved into contention with a compact round of 70 - with three birdies and just one bogey - which saw him close on seven under.

Dubliner Peter Lawrie is six off the pace at three under while Meath professional Damien McGrane is two shots further back.