Kurt Kitayama stretched his advantage at the top of the Afrasia Bank Mauritius Open at Anahita leaderboard as the third round got under way on Saturday.
Qualifying School graduate Kitayama came into day three with a two-shot lead over closest challenger S Chikkarangappa after opening the tournament with back-to-back 65s.
And the American started brightly on Saturday afternoon, rolling in his close-range birdie putts at the long second and fourth holes to get to 16 under par and open up a four-shot lead.
Chikkarangappa remained on 12 under after holing his bunker shot to save par at the third, while Justin Harding and Matthieu Pavon were also in a tie for second courtesy of their strong starts.
Scot Grant Forrest was the leader in the clubhouse after firing one eagle and five birdies in his stunning 65 to get to ten under.
