Miles Tunnicliff fired a sublime nine under par 63 to set a clubhouse target of 12 under par at the Maybank Malaysian Open.
The Englishman started the day in a share of 34th but with nine birdies in his blemish free round the 40 year old was second by the time he finished his third round.
“I enjoyed that,” he said afterwards. “It is the first time in a long time that it has come together so nicely.
“I was struggling for the first three weeks of the year in the desert so I took a week’s break in Dubai with the family and didn’t touch a golf club. I just chilled out for the week and it seems to have worked because I came here a lot more excited about playing again.
“I think the last time I played really well was at the Alfred Dunhill Links last year, so it feels great to be back in contention again.”
Sweden’s Alexander Noren was out in front on 13 under, having reached three under for the day at the turn.
The 26 year old is still looking for his first win on The European Tour but has only dropped one shot all week after 45 holes.
Also on the course, Australia’s Adam Blyth has drawn level with Tunnicliff at 12 under, with six holes remaining.
American Anthony Kang and China’s Liang Wen-chong are 11 under, with five players tied on ten under on an increasingly congested leaderboard.
Peter Lawrie, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur and Prayad Marksaeng were all under par for the day to join overnight leader Danny Chia who had dropped three shots after ten holes.
