Danny Willett three shots clear ahead of final round of Maybank Championship
Sunday 12 February 2017 16:38, UK
Masters champion Danny Willett will take a three-shot lead into the final round of the Maybank Championship in Malaysia.
Willett, without a win since his breakthrough Augusta success, carded a five-under 67 at Saujana to sit on 16 under with 18 holes remaining.
America's David Lipsky is his nearest challenger, with a third-round 68 moving him into solo second spot, mainly because halfway leader Bernd Wiesberger had his share of Saturday struggles.
Willett also had his ups and downs over the first six holes, dropping a shot at the fifth after having birdied the second, but the rest of his round was blemish-free.
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The Yorkshireman picked up further strokes at the 7th and 8th, added a fourth birdie at 11 and then gave himself a little breathing space at the top of the leaderboard with birdies at the last two holes, with his eagle chip at the 18th bouncing off the pin.
"I'm not sure what will win it to be honest, depends on if we pitch up and it's flat calm. I think there's a few guys that can go low if it's windy like this," said Willett.
"One or two under par is a good knock out there so I think it all depends on the weather tomorrow."
Lipsky took advantage of Saujana's par-fives, birdieing three out of four in his round of 68, where his only dropped shot came at the 8th.
Willett and Lipsky will be joined by Frenchman Alexander Levy in Sunday's final group after he matched Willett's round to move to 12 under, four off the lead.
Levy avoided mistakes on Saturday and managed five birdies to stay in contention.
But it was a day to forget for Wiesberger, 24 hours after a run of nine successive birdies had moved him in to the 36-hole lead.
The Austrian had four bogeys in his Saturday round, and even three birdies were not enough to see him stay on top - he now trails Willett by five.
Alongside Wiesberger on 11 under are Frenchmen Mike Lorenzo-Vera (70) and Gregory Havret (66), KT Kim of Korea. who carded a 69, and Thailand's Panuphol Pittayarat, who had six birdies in his 66.
First round leader Marc Warren continued his slide down the leaderboard with a level-par 72 - he is now in a tie for 22nd, 10 shots off the pace.
