Anirban Lahiri grabbed birdies on three of the four par-five holes to card a one-under 71 under tough scoring conditions and force his way into top-10 at the USD 1 million King's Cup Golf in Hua Hin, Thailand on Saturday.
On a day when swirling wind speed reached as high as 36 kph during the day, Lahiri moved up from tied 14th overnight to tied seventh at five-under 211 for 54 holes.
Also getting into the top-10 was Rahil Gangjee (71) at three-under 213. SSP Chowrasia (72) moved up from tied 30th to 20th at one-under 215 and Jyoti Randhawa (73) was two-over for three rounds. Only four of the nine Indians who started made the cut.
Lahiri was one-over through 15 holes before birdies on 16th and 18th helped him get to red numbers and move up on the leaderboard. He had five birdies against four bogeys.
Gangjee had three birdies and two bogeys in his round, while Chowrasia, who has lost his European Tour card, was two-over for front nine, but three birdies and one bogey on back nine lifted him up.
Meanwhile, Korea's Mo Joong-kyung took his place atop the leaderboard with a battling third round two-under 70. Mo stood tall amidst gusty conditions to mark his card with six birdies and four bogeys for a three-day total of nine-under 207.
Philippines' Angelo Que carded the day's lowest score after firing a 67 to take a share of second place alongside home favourite Prom Meesawat at the Black Mountain Golf Club.
Three-time Asian Tour winner Chapchai Nirat of Thailand matched his opening round of 68 to take fourth place while compatriot Prayad Marksaeng made his move with a 71 to share fifth place with Sweden's Rikard Karlberg at the Asian Tour season-ending event.
Three bogeys in his first five holes gave no indication that Mo would be able to make his charge towards the top. However, two birdies on the sixth and eight holes changed that equation as players were blown off course.
Que also gave a lesson on how to tame the winds when he made his comeback after a disappointing second round 75.
"I just feel happy I can shoot five-under in these conditions. I'm not surprised, but just happy. I'm not going to think about the win. I just want to go out and have fun," said Que.
Meanwhile, Prom remains confident of ending his wait for his second Asian Tour win despite losing his share of the lead for the first time this week.
The Thai, who still stands an outside chance of sealing his place with Team Asia at the inaugural EurAsia Cup which will tee off in Malaysia in March, knows the importance of a win by a Thai and has promised to do his best.
