Zander Lombard had to settle for a share of the lead at the turn on the third day of the Lyoness Open powered by Sporthilfe Cashback Card after a triple bogey at the ninth saw him surrender a comfortable advantage.
Starting the day in a share of the lead with Grégory Bourdy on seven under par, the 21 year old took advantage of low scoring conditions at Diamond Country Club, notching four birdies in his first seven holes to take the outright lead.
But Lombard carded a disappointing seven at the par-four ninth to see his three-shot lead over nearest challenger Ashun Wu disappear.
Lombard opened his third round with a birdie at the first before finding himself alone at the top of the leaderboard when Bourdy failed to match his par at the second, with the Frenchman instead carding a double bogey to fall back to six under.
The South African extended his advantage at the third, rolling in his 12 foot birdie putt before making further gains at the sixth and seventh to move to 11 under.
A brilliant par save followed at the eighth, with Lombard sinking a tricky eight foot putt to stay three shots ahead of the chasing pack.
But after sending his tee shot into the bushes at the ninth, he carded a triple bogey to fall back to eight under.
Wu reached the turn in 32 after picking up shots at the first, third, fourth and eighth holes before another birdie at the tenth took him to eight under.
England's Chris Paisley was one shot back on seven under after carding a remarkable nine birdies and two bogeys in his first 15 holes, with Adrian Otaegui and Joost Luiten joining him in a tie for third.
