Rory McIlroy finished his third round with three straight birdies to remain in contention for the UBS Hong Kong Open and continue his pursuit of a place in the world's top 50. The 19-year-old from Holywood carded 12 pars, before picking up his first shot of the day on the par-five 13th. Two pars followed before McIlroy charged home, making birdie at each of the closing par-fours to finish with a four-under 66.
The world number 63 will go into the final round in a tie for fourth spot on 10-under-par, three strokes off the lead of England's Oliver Wilson, who will be aiming to end his search for a first European Tour victory.
Wilson carded a 65 in his third round and leads by one stroke from Chinese Taipei's Lin Wen-tang. He will also have to keep an eye on German veteran Bernhard Langer, who stormed up the leaderboard with a seven-under-par 63 and is just two strokes behind at 11-under.
Wilson, 28, has finished runner-up on the Tour on no less that eight occasions since becoming a professional in 2005 and most recently lost out in a play-off to Sergio Garcia at the HSBC Champions.
Having started today's third round in a four-way tie for the lead and though he dropped a shot on the first, Wilson fired two successive birdies from the sixth to reach the turn at one-under-par for the day.
Birdies on the 10th, 13th and 14th saw him move back into a share of the lead before Wilson sank a 15-foot putt on the 17th to take sole lead.
"I am very happy with today," he said. "It will need a good round tomorrow but I'll just keep doing what I am doing and hopefully it will be enough."
Hot on his heels though is Langer, whose start did little to suggest such an impressive display was on the cards as the 51-year-old teed off into the bunker on the par-four first before putting for a bogey.
He birdied the sixth and then picked up a superb eagle on the par-four seventh, holing with a seven iron after having again putting his tee shot into a bunker.
Langer picked up another shot on the par-three eighth and made par on the ninth to reach the turn at three-under for the day and eight-under for the tournament.
The two-time US Masters champion went on a superb run coming home, carding five birdies — including four straight from the 13th — to ensure he is well placed for tomorrow.
"It was kind of a strange day," said Langer. "It is always great to be up on the leaderboard and it is always great to be in contention.
"That is what we practice for and what we work for; to have a good chance on Sunday afternoon to win a tournament."
Graeme McDowell had his best round of the week over the Fanling course, a five-under 65 leaving the Portrush man in a tie for 19th spot on six-under.
Challenge Tour graduate Gareth Maybin was two shots further back after a 68, while Paul McGinley carded a 67 for three-under.
THIRD ROUND SCOREBOARD
(Ireland & Britain unless stated, par 70):
197Oliver Wilson 66 66 65
198Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 65 69 64
199Bernhard Langer (Ger) 69 67 63
200Francesco Molinari (Ita) 66 67 67, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 71 63 66,
Rory McIlroy 70 64 66, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 69 67 64
201Colin Montgomerie 68 65 68
202David Gleeson (Aus) 72 65 65, Iain Steel (Mal) 68 68 66, Chawalit Plaphol (Tha) 66 66 70, Richard Sterne (Rsa) 64 69 69
203Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (Fra) 69 66 68, Wei Chih Lu (Tha) 70 69 64, Angelo Que (Phi) 68 68 67, David Lynn 71 67 65, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 67 66 70, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 70 67 66
204 Graeme McDowell 71 68 65, Wen-chong Liang (Chn) 64 71 69, Ben Leong (Mal) 69 70 65, David Frost (Rsa) 69 68 67, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 70 67 67, Bradley Dredge 69 70 65
205Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 70 62 73, Oliver Fisher 67 65 73, Martin Rominger (Swi) 71 66 68, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 71 68 66
206Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 66 71 69, Antonio Lascuna (Phi) 70 70 66, Darren Beck (Aus) 68 69 69, Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 67 72 67, Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 68 68 70,
Gareth Maybin 71 67 68, Paul Waring 72 68 66, Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 70 66 70, Unho Park (Aus) 71 68 67, Mark Brown (USA) 70 70 66, Johan Edfors (Swe) 68 65 73, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 70 70 66, Peter Hanson (Swe) 67 70 69
207Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 69 70 68, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 70 67, Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 71 69 67, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 69 69 69, Gavin Flint (Aus) 68 70 69,
Paul McGinley 71 69 67
208Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 69 68, Taco Remkes (Ned) 69 70 69, Paul Lawrie 69 70 69, Pelle Edberg (Swe) 69 68 71, David Bransdon (Aus) 70 68 70, Chinarat Phadungsil (Tha) 67 71 70, Wen Teh Lu (Tpe) 68 69 71
209John Daly (USA) 68 68 73, Frankie Minoza (Phi) 65 72 72, Tony Carolan (Aus) 70 67 72, Taichiro Kiyota (Jpn) 72 67 70, Anders Hansen (Den) 71 68 70, Artemio-hiromasa Murakami (Phi) 67 70 72, David Dixon 68 69 72
210Zaw Moe (Kor) 72 68 70, Jarmo Sandelin (Swe) 70 67 73, Scott Strange (Aus) 71 68 71, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 71 69 70, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 70 70, Jean Van de velde (Fra) 73 67 70, Phillip Archer 72 67 71, Jamie Donaldson 75 63 72, Sattaya Supupramai (Tha) 71 69 70
211Jose-Maria Olazabal (Spa) 69 68 74, David Horsey 70 70 71, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 71 69 71, Niclas Fasth (Swe) 71 69 71, Gregory Bourdy (Fra) 71 69 71, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 69 71 71
212Anthony Wall 72 68 72
213Marcus Both (Aus) 68 72 73, Shun yat jason Hak (Hkg) 70 70 73, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 70 69 74
214Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 70 70 74, Scott Drummond 68 70 76
