Oliver Wilson put himself in contention for his maiden career title after carding a third round three under par 69 to open up a one stroke lead over former US Open Championship winner Geoff Ogilvy at the rain affected HSBC Champions.
The 28 year old began the third round a shot adrift of Ryder Cup regulars Sergio Garcia and Henrik Stenson but while the experienced duo managed level par rounds of 72 to fall back into third place, Wilson carded just one bogey at a bright Sheshan International Golf Club to sit at the top of the leaderboard at 12 under par.
Ogilvy, who had began his third round at the disrupted event yesterday evening, followed up his second round 65 with a third round 70 in windy conditions in Shanghai.
World Number Two and defending champion Phil Mickelson shares third place with Garcia and Stenson after signing for a second consecutive two under par 70.
Wilson is playing at the Champions event courtesy of his Order of Merit ranking after finishing runner-up four times in 2008 which includes losing a play-off to Miguel Angel Jiménez at The BMW PGA Championship.
"I am very pleased with the position I am in, any time you lead it is the best position you can be in. I am happy to be there, I am playing very nicely, very solid and hopefully that can continue," said Wilson.
"It was a tough day, definitely the toughest day we've had so far. It was cold this morning and some of the longer par fours played into the wind so they were tough and also the pin positions were pretty tough as well."
After carding a second seven under par round yesterday, Ogilvy played two holes of his third round last night and in the fading light dropped a shot to slip back to eight under.
But after reaching the turn one over, he picked up three shots on the back nine to sit at 11 under after 54 holes.
"I've played very nicely this morning. I had a rough start last night as I bogeyed the first and got a par at the second, which felt like two bogeys, and it was a frustrating way to end yesterday," said Ogilvy.
"I finally made a birdie at 11, then had an up and down back nine but ended up having quite a few birdies with a couple of bogeys."
Stenson fell down the leaderboard after reaching the turn two over par before making amends on the way home with two birdies, while Garcia had moved two clear of world number two Mickelson, Wilson and Ogilvy at the turn before dropping two shots on the way home.
A win for the Spaniard on would see World Number Three Garcia overtake Mickelson in the world rankings.
Afterwards both Stenson and Garcia admitted the weather was making for tough conditions.
Stenson said: “It was a much more difficult day out there. It was cold in the morning and obviously the wind is swirling around, and it was fairly strong at times.”
Garcia – in great form after winning the CASTELLÓ MASTERS Costa Azahar on his home course last month - added: “I was in pretty good control. The course was not playing very easy. It was quite windy. It was cold.”
