Golf:Gareth Maybin set himself up for a dream finish in the South African Open today after a three-under par round of 69 left him in a tie for second spot, two shots behind leader Lee Westwood going into the final round.

Rory McIlroy also hoisted himself into contention after a hat-trick of birdies over the closing holes helped him card a five-under 67 to finish on 11-under.

Despite only coming in with a level-par 72, Damien McGrane also remains in the top ten going into the final day on 10-under, while Darren Clarke will also be eyeing a strong finish after a second straight 67 left him on eight-under.

Maybin was joined by overnight leader Michael Lorenzo-Vera on 12-under, while Retief Goosen and George Coetzee finished on the same mark as McIlroy.

Maybin, 28, was a model of consistency, with two birdies on each nine to go with a bogey on the short 12th in just his seventh start on the European Tour.

The Ballyclare man has taken time to reach his potential after stints on the Hooters Tour in America before he finished fourth in last year's Challenge Tour to gain playing rights on the full tour.
  
Fellow Ulsterman McIlroy had a slow start, picking up just one birdie in his first 13 holes. Crucially he had no dropped shots to that point and would finish his round with four birdies over the final five holes as he bids to cement his place in the world top 50 and earn an invite to the Masters.

McIlroy said: "The thoughts are on winning here and also trying to keep that place in the top 50 in the world. I haven't been able to stop thinking about that one to be honest.

"If I can go out there tomorrow and play the way I did at the end today then I will be right up there and I could have a chance to win. That's the aim, anyway."

Clarke also finished in flying form, making birdies at three of the last four holes as he also shot 67 to finish on eight-under.

Clarke said: "Obviously my last two rounds were a bit better than the first round. I've just played nicely the last couple of days and I just need to have another really good low one tomorrow to finish with the year. To be honest, I'd much prefer if the wind was blowing, but I'll take that score."

Reflecting on the difference between his first day and the next two, he added: "I don't know. I just played similar, just managed to hole a few putts in the last two rounds and I've just played nicer. There were just a few mistakes there on the first day. That was all."

Gary Murphy also shot a five-under 67 to move to six-under, but Michael Hoey finished with a bogey at the last in a one-over round of 73 to finish on seven-under-par.

World number 10 Westwood showed remarkable patience for his four-birdie round that included 10 consecutive pars between the fourth and 13th holes.

He said: "It's a good position to be in. You want to be leading, so I'm pleased with the position. I'm just pleased with the way I played the last three days, I've been very solid and made just one bogey, I think.

"It was good to see a bit more breeze today, it helped me a bit more tee-to-green and that's probably the strongest part of my game at the moment, so I'm pretty pleased."

Westwood, who had 13 top 10 finishes during the past season without a win, admitted that his plan for the final round was to just go out and play.

"I have to think and not get too ahead of myself. All week long, all I've tried to do is minimise the mistakes and just get around," said Westwood, who will tee up with Maybin in tomorrow's final round.

"I'm just enjoying it and I look forward to going out and playing every day the way I'm hitting the ball. It's a golf course I enjoy playing."

Third Round - (Ireland and Britain unless stated, par 72):

202Lee Westwood 66 68 68
204Michael Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 67 65 72, Gareth Maybin 66 69 69
205 Rory McIlroy 70 68 67, Retief Goosen (Rsa) 70 66 69, George Coetzee (Rsa) 69 68 68
206 Damien McGrane 70 64 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 72 69 65
207Len Mattiace (USA) 70 66 71, Ross McGowan 66 70 71
208Chris Wood 68 69 71, Alessandro Tadini (Ita) 68 74 66, Jaco Van Zyl (Rsa) 66 71 71, Simon Dyson 67 73 68, Darren Clarke 74 67 67, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 72 69 67
209John Mellor 70 68 71, Branden Grace (Rsa) 69 67 73, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 64 72 73, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 73 67, Michael Hoey 70 66 73
210Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 64 75, Adilson Da Silva (Bra) 70 68 72, Ake Nilsson (Rsa) 66 72 72, Garth Mulroy (Rsa) 70 71 69, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 72 70 68, Andrew Coltart 71 72 67, Gary Lockerbie 72 69 69, Trevor Immelman (Rsa) 69 71 70, Richard Finch 69 70 71, Keith Horne (Rsa) 66 70 74, Gary Murphy 72 71 67, Oskar Henningsson (Swe) 65 74 71, Tim Clark (Rsa) 67 73 70, Trevor Fisher Jnr (Rsa) 72 67 71, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 70 71 69
211Martin Wiegele (Aut) 69 68 74, Merrick Bremner (Rsa) 71 69 71, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 66 71 74, Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 74 69 68, David Horsey 70 65 76, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 71 71 69, David Frost (Rsa) 68 72 71, Lee Slattery 68 72 71, Ernie Els (Rsa) 67 67 77, Dion Fourie (Rsa) 70 71 70
212Magnus A Carlsson (Swe) 70 70 72, Peter Hanson (Swe) 74 68 70, Hennie Otto (Rsa) 68 72 72, David Drysdale 74 68 70, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 69 65 78, Darren Fichardt (Rsa) 67 74 71, Johan Edfors (Swe) 72 70 70
213Richie Ramsay 66 72 75, Jeppe Huldahl (Den) 69 71 73, Christiaan Basson (Rsa) 73 69 71, Michael Jonzon (Swe) 70 70 73, Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 72 71 70
214Patrik Sjoland (Swe) 72 69 73, Justin Rose 69 74 71, Peter Karmis (Rsa) 69 71 74, Callum Mccaulay 71 69 74, Jake Roos (Rsa) 70 70 74, Carlos Del Moral (Spa) 69 68 77, Rafael Cabrera Bello (Spa) 69 74 71
215Marco Ruiz (Par) 69 73 73, Ariel Canete (Arg) 73 70 72
216Wil Besseling (Ned) 75 68 73, Adrian Ford (Rsa) 70 71 75, Estanislao Goya (Arg) 70 72 74, Alan McLean 71 72 73, Tyrone Ferreira (Rsa) 74 69 73
217Steve Basson (Rsa) 72 71 74, Birgir Hafthorsson (Ice) 71 72 74
219Antti Ahokas (Fin) 71 69 79, Albert Pistorius (Rsa) 68 75 76