Oliver Lindell snatched the outright lead after signing for a four under par round of 68 in the third round of the Hainan Open at Sanya Luhuitou Golf Club.
The Finn broke away from the chasing pack after trading five birdies with one bogey to reach 16 under par for the week, two clear of Swede Niklas Lemke, who held a share of the overnight lead, and Lloyd Jefferson Go from the Philippines.
Waterford’s Gary Hurley was just one shot off the pace when he teed it up on the 18th. Unfortunately the 31-year-old carded a ten on the closing par-5 to drop back to ten-under and six shots behind Lindell.
Lindell, who has recorded top ten finishes in each of his last five starts, has never led going into the final round until this week, something he is eager to take advantage of as he bids for a maiden Challenge Tour win.
“I’ve never been in this position on the Challenge Tour where I have the final round lead all to myself,” he said.
“It’s really nice and I’ll just try to enjoy my golf tomorrow.”
Lindell, who currently sits ninth in the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings, mixed one birdie with one bogey on the front nine to remain towards the top of the leaderboard.
The 26-year-old then charged ahead with a flawless back-nine that was highlighted with birdies on holes ten, 13, 15 and 18.
“I had a frustrating start to the round,” he added. “I missed a couple of short putts yesterday and today it continued with a big lip out on the first.
“I stayed patient and on the back nine, I played really good golf and managed to get the round under par.
“I checked the leaderboard after nine holes and I knew that people were making lots of birdies and I was just glad I managed to play well.
“Tee-to-green has been really good. I have been feeling so comfortable on the tee and on the fairway. My putting could be better but luckily a couple dropped.”
Dane Hamish Brown, Englishman Ben Schmidt and home favourite Zihao Jin from China share fourth place on 13 under par, with South African duo Wilco Nienaber and JC Ritchie, and Swede Björn Åkesson one shot further back in seventh.
Jonathan Caldwell carded a third round of 70 to climb into a share of 25th place on eight-under and he is projected to move from 72nd to 70th in the Road to Mallorca Rankings with the top-45 advancing to the Grand Final after next week’s event.
Conor Purcell fell back to one-under after a 75.
The final round gets under way at 7:30am local time, with Lindell teeing off alongside Lemke and Go in the final group at 9:31am.