Anirban Lahiri admits he will have his work cut out to claim victory at the UBS Hong Kong Open on Sunday but he is not ruling out winning a third European Tour title of the year.
The Indian has enjoyed a brilliant breakout campaign in 2015 with triumphs at the Maybank Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open in February helping get him to 11th in the Race to Dubai.
A win at Hong Kong Golf Club this week would see him join Andy Sullivan as the only player to secure three European Tour victories so far this season but he will have to overturn a four shot deficit to 54-hole leaders Justin Rose and Lucas Bjerregaard.
The 28 year old reached the turn on Saturday level par for his round but five birdies on the back nine saw him surge up the leaderboard and he is glad that he managed to keep the leading duo in sight.
"You want to get as close as possible, because if it gets into a match-play position, then they can play totally differently and separate themselves from the field, which has probably already happened," he said.
But hopefully I can play some good golf, play 18 holes tomorrow like I did on the back nine and maybe have a sniff - Anirban Lahiri
He added: "I think on the front nine, I was not very focused.
"By the eighth, ninth I started hitting it a little more solid. Got up-and-down a couple times when I missed. It was good to get birdies on ten and 11, kind of got me in the right zone mentally.
"I was just focusing on giving myself opportunities and it was good."
Matthew Fitzpatrick is Lahiri's major competition for the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year award - along with Byeong Hun An - with four top threes to go with his maiden victory at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.
The Englishman also looked set to be the major threat to Bjerregaard and Rose throughout the third round in Fanling but a bogey on the last left him five shots adrift of top spot.
"It was a good day overall," he said. "Disappointing to finish with a bogey obviously. I missed a couple chances coming in as well so it would have been even nicer, but it was a good Saturday's work.
"I'm feeling pretty comfortable with my game and just looking forward to getting going tomorrow and putting myself in contention again."
