David Micheluzzi finished with back-to-back birdies to take a one-stroke lead after the third round of the Porsche Singapore Classic.
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The Australian carded just one bogey in a six under par 66 to move into the lead on 13 under par, one clear of overnight co-leader Andy Sullivan and fellow Englishman Sam Bairstow who share second place on 12 under at Laguna National Golf Resort Club.
The swirling winds of the first two days dropped on day three, but 27-year-old Micheluzzi breezed to the top of the leaderboard on what was still a red-hot day in Singapore.
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The four-time Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia winner started with a birdie at the first but then gave it back with a bogey at the second, with further birdies arriving at the fifth and eighth to make the turn on two under.
The Melbourne native then put his foot down on the back nine, with back-to-back gains at the 12th and 13th adding to the closing pair to take the 54-hole lead for the first time in his DP World Tour career.
Second round co-leader Sullivan experienced a rollercoaster of emotions on day three. After starting with four birdies in his first eight holes, the double bogeyed both the ninth and tenth, as well as bogeying the 11th. The four-time DP World Tour winner steadied the ship, however, with four birdies in his next seven to post a three under 69 and remain in contention.
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India’s Shubhankar Sharma is a shot further back in fourth on 11 under par and is finding form ahead of his home event at the Hero Indian Open next week.
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Elsewhere, 2019 Open Champion Shane Lowry gave himself a shot at contending for the title with a six under 66 on moving day to earn a share of 13th on eight under par, while Frenchman Matthieu Pavon came within an inch of winning the €192,000 Porsche Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid, on offer to the first player to ace the par three 17th this week.
Player quote
David Micheluzzi: “It’s been good. Today was very hot, you could see me with a towel over my head. Basically the whole day just literally every water station, we just put it straight in and just kept myself cool. The first eight holes I didn’t play so great, and then the last ten I really got dialled in and holed some putts which was nice.”
Andy Sullivan: “It was definitely a rollercoaster of emotions, I went through everything today. It was colourful in every sense of the word. Recently when it has been going wrong, I’ve tended to let it get to me a little bit. So I’m proud of myself today for coming back in and putting up a fight. I feel like my game is getting back and my confidence has grown with it.”
Sam Bairstow: “I got off to such a hot start it was going to be hard to keep up all the way in that heat, so I’m very happy with a 68.
“It’s just probably the hottest it was today, it was the one without much wind about so I was just drinking a lot of water and just trying to find the shade.”
Shubhankar Sharma: “I’m very happy, I played solid. Just slightly bummed that I made that six on the last but I played really well throughout. It was really hot out there, so I had to keep the energy up. I made some crucial par putts and hit it good out there.”
Shane Lowry: “It was nice. I played really good today, longest putt I holed was about six or seven feet. Shooting 66 is pretty good but I’d like to hole more putts, obviously it could have been better but put myself back up near the top of the leaderboard, just hope the leaders don’t run away too much today and I can go out and maybe shoot a low front nine tomorrow and give myself a bit of a chance.”
