JEJU ISLAND, Korea, May 18 - Australian Matt Griffin stayed on course for a second OneAsia title in less than a year with an even-par 72 on Saturday that gave him a one-shot lead going into the final round of the one billion won (U.S. $900,000) SK Telecom Open on Korea's Jeju Island.
After two days of perfect weather, a stiff wind and late afternoon rain played havoc with the field, and only 10 players broke par around the 6,732 metre (7,361 yard) Pinx Golf Club course.
Griffin, a winner of the Charity High1 Resort Open in September, stands 13 under for the tournament -- a stroke clear of Korean veteran Kang Wook-soon, whose 67 was the day's best round.
China's Hu Mu (73) and Koreans Lee Ki-sang (72) and Park Do-kyu (74) shared third place at nine under.
Overnight leader Kim Chang-yoon, who broke the course record with a 62 on Friday, slipped to minus seven after shooting a 79.
Indonesia's Rory Hie had a tough day on the course, scoring 4 birdies, 4 bogeys and 2 double bogeys on the par-3 5th and 14th holes. His 3-round total of 214 saw him drop back to a tie for 51th place.
Griffin got to grips with his round at the par-five ninth when he chipped in for eagle from around 40 yards to cancel out a bogey-bogey start.
From then he was a picture of concentration for nine pars in-a-row, and he credited his win last year with giving him the mental fortitude to maintain focus in the worsening conditions.
"Definitely I feel like a different player now," he said. "It helps that you know you can do it, you know you can win."
He drew on that experience on the par-four 18th -- which played like a par five for most of the day -- when he put his third shot through the back of the green and then drained the remaining 40-footer to guarantee him the overnight lead.
"That was huge … that could be the difference at the end of the tournament," he said.
Kang, 46, a seven-time winner on the Asian Tour and two-time Order of Merit champion, hasn't lifted a title since 2009 and said he was feeling it in his legs after Saturday's round.
"I'm a little bit tired, but I have been doing this for a long time so I know how to go home and recover," he said.
"If the wind stays the same as it was today, then I think two or three under from the leaders will probably win it."
A pair of birdies moved star attraction K.J. Choi (73) in touch until a disastrous triple bogey on the seventh.
"I hit a poor shot there from the greenside bunker, but the hole was playing extremely long today," he said. "Most of the players were hitting three woods or five woods into the green today."
The shot of the day came from 19-year-old amateur Kim Nam-hun who recorded the tournament's first albatross on the par five 10th with a sweetly struck utility wood from 200 metres.
Scores after round three of the SK Telecom (Par 72):
203 - Matthew GRIFFIN (AUS) 64-67-72
204 - KANG Wook-soon (KOR) 65-72-67
207 - LEE Ki-sang (KOR) 67-68-72, PARK Do-kyu (KOR) 67-66-74, HU Mu (CHN) 66-68-73
208 - David OH (USA) 66-72-70, AN Jae-hyun (NZL) 71-69-68, KIM Hyung-tae (KOR) 67-69-72, MOON Kyong-jun (KOR) 67-69-72
Selected:
214 - Rory HIE (INA) 67-71-76
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