Tom Lehman has a slender advantage going into the final stretch of the MCB Tour Championship, as David Frost intensified the pressure on the former Open Champion.
American Lehman had started the final round with a two stroke lead, which was maintained when both players bogeyed the third hole. Frost closed the gap to one shot with a birdie on the fourth but relinquished it again with a bogey on the fifth.
A further birdie from the South African on the eighth hole meant the pair entered the back nine separated by just a single stroke, with former Ryder Cup Captain Lehman ten under par at the turn.
Lehman is trying to seal a wire-to-wire victory on his debut in a European Senior Tour event, while Frost is looking for a unique double of winning twice at the same venue in a season having won the Mauritius Commercial Bank Open 12 months ago.
It’s also proving to be an interesting battle for the John Jacobs Trophy, with Order of Merit leader Peter Fowler dropping four shots in two holes with double bogeys on both the fifth and sixth holes to plummet down the leaderboard. That left the door slightly ajar for rival Barry Lane, who would need to finish at least inside the top three to stand any chance of finishing the year as Number One.
Lane birdied the fifth hole to move to one under par through 12 holes but looked to be running out of chances.
Former Ryder Cup players Gordon J Brand and Sam Torrance both finished the 2011 season on a high note, with rounds of 66 to move to four under par for the tournament.
