Spaniard Nacho Elvira powered his way to a two-shot lead with an excellent six-under-par 66 in the third round of the Maybank Championship.
In sweltering conditions at Saujana Golf & Country Club, the 32-year-old from Madrid upstaged the bigger names in the joint Asian Tour and European Tour event with a near-flawless performance. He traded seven birdies against just one dropped shot to top the leaderboard on 13-under-par with one round to go.
American David Lipsky is Elvira’s nearest challenger on 11-under-par following a third round 67, one shot ahead of Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond, Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer and Australian Scott Hend.
South African legend Ernie Els and Frenchman Benjamin Hebert are in joint sixth position on nine-under-par, with the latter’s 65 being the low round of the day and joint lowest of the week so far.
“The putter worked a bit better than yesterday, especially coming down the stretch. I’m very happy with a 66,” said Elvira. “It was tough with the heat and humidity – I stayed patient and it paid off in the end.”
Elvira has won four times on the second tier Challenge Tour but is still chasing his maiden European Tour title. “It would be great to start here but I really don’t think about it too much,” he said.
Halfway leader Thomas Pieters of Belgium dropped out of contention after an error-strewn 78.
Nicholas Fung was the leading Malaysian in joint 13th position on six-under-par after a third round 69, which was matched by compatriot Gavin Green who is three shots further back. They were the only two out of 13 starting Malaysians to make the halfway cut.
