Nicholas Colsaerts

Belgium's Nicholas Colsaerts produced two late birdies on 16 and 18 to pip Han Chang-won of Korea for the lead in the third round of the 2011 Volvo China Open at the Luxehills Golf Club in Chengdu, Sichuan. With an eagle on the first, the Belgian played the four par-5s on the course in five-under, and these were the main contributors to his round of 66.

First round leader Han had had a quiet day on Friday with a 2-under 70, but he almost matched his first round fireworks with an immaculate 65 that looked like giving him the lead until Colsaerts late charge. But this was a better display. On Thursday Han enjoyed the best of the conditions – an early start, preferred lies, and slow, damp greens that helped with the putts. In the third round there were no preferred lies, and Han's bogey-free round, one of only four of the day, was all the more creditable as he had to master a strong breeze that blew up just as the leaders were approaching the turn.

At the start of the day only eight strokes separated first and last, and any of the players who made the cut might have felt they were in with a chance. That is no longer the case – on 18-under, Colsaerts leads last-placed Yuan Tian of China by eighteen. But conditions were perfect for the early starters, as evidenced by three eagles on the opening par-5 from the first three groups.

One of the first to make a move was Michael Hendry of New Zealand. With an eagle on the first and three more quick birdies, he had moved to 10-under by the 7th hole. He was unlucky on 8, where his par putt hit the middle of the hole and bumped out, but he compensated by holing out from the fairway on 13 for an eagle 2. At 11-under, he is too far off the pace to think of winning, but it was a stalwart effort.

Ho-sung Choi of Korea also gave the early spectators something to cheer about. He birdied the first, then reeled off six straight birdies from 3 to 8 to move to 13-under with a sparkling 29 on the front nine. But from then on it was straight pars all the way to 18, where a bogey left him thinking about what might have been.

China's Su Dong is a hefty fellow, and must be accustomed to hitting the odd long drive, but he will rarely hit farther than on the 6th. A buggy path crosses the fairway just about at the length of the big hitters, but Su bounced his ball on it and it carried another fifty yards or so. On the 412-yard par 4 he was left with a pitch of not more than fifty yards to the pin.

China had two players just outside the top of the leader board in Liang Wenchong and Wei Wei. Unfortunately neither had a great day. Wei Wei finished with a 73 to drop to 9-under. Liang made good progress over the front nine with two birdies, but he gave them back on the back nine, and he finished where he started on 10-under, but having dropped from 14th place to 31st in the process.

The leaders were quickly into the birdies – everyone in the last three groups birdied the first bar Colsaerts, who eagled. It seemed possible that someone might run away from the field, but then the breeze blew and showed that this course, so benign in friendly conditions, had some teeth. All of a sudden the scoreboard was peppered with blue bogeys, and while there were still birdies to be had, it became clear that the players who could keep their score in the black over the back nine would be the ones to prosper.

Colsaerts and Han did so, as did Ireland's Peter Lawrie and Gregory Havret of France, who both finished on 16-under to take joint third place. With the birdies that these four players picked up they were able to make themselves a little breathing space over the field, but there are still a dozen players at 13-under or better, and another ten on 12-under ready to make a charge on the final day.

With two par-5s at 16 and 18, the championship is likely to go to the wire. Although 18 is a monster 602 yards it plays downhill, and both holes can be reached in two, with the result that anybody might pick up two or three shots at the close of the round. It is likely that we will have to wait till well into the afternoon to know who is the 2011 Volvo China Open Champion.