Ernie Els gave the rest of the field at the Caltex Masters in Singapore some hope when he produced a poor finish to his third round. The South African looked set to wrap up his fourth consecutive victory when he opened up a five-shot lead after 11 holes at Laguna National. However, dropped shots at the final two holes earned him a 70, leaving him at 10-under-par, two ahead of China's Lian-Wei Zhang.
Thailand-based Scotsman Simon Yates birdied three of the last four holes to finish a shot further back alongside Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng. England's Simon Khan, Welshman Mark Pilkington, Holland's Maarten Lafeber, qualifying school winner Per Nyman of Sweden and local professional Chih-Bing Lam share fifth place on five under, five off the lead.
Meanwhile, Ireland's Gary Murphy, who was only two shots off the pace set by Els at the half-way stage of the event, suffered a disastrous third round, carding a nine-over-par 81 to leave him on three-over for the tournament.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
