Julian Perico and Lukas Nemecz share a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Hangzhou Open at Hangzhou West Lake Golf Club.
Peruvian Perico mixed six birdies with one bogey to sign for a five under par 67 on moving day, while Nemecz, who held the overnight lead, signed for a two under par round of 70 to move to 15 under for the week.
After playing the first three holes in level par, Perico made back-to-back gains on the fourth and fifth before adding another birdie on the par five eighth to head out in 33 strokes.
Two further birdies on the back nine along with seven pars left the 25-year-old pleased with his third round effort in tough conditions in China.
“I believe I played well today,” he said. “It was tough out there. The ball wasn’t going nearly as far. I was hitting it into parts of the fairway that I haven’t been used to over the past two days.
“In the rough you couldn’t advance the ball, so it was pretty hard. The greens were soft, but the pins were hidden and on slopes. It was a challenge, and I am pleased with how I handled it.”
Perico started the second of back-to-back HotelPlanner Tour events in China 67th in the season-long Road to Mallorca Rankings, with the top 45 projected to make the Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A upon the conclusion of this week’s event.
Despite currently being projected to make the HotelPlanner Tour finale later this month, Perico is looking to remain focussed on his on-course performance with 18 to play in Hangzhou.
“Whatever happens tomorrow I’ll be okay with,” he added.
“I just know that I’ll go out there and play my game. It’s the first time all year that I’ve been in contention the whole week. This week has just been so consistent and so solid, and I am thankful for that.”
Nemecz started the day with a two-stroke lead but saw his advantage quickly disappear over his first nine holes. Two birdies and two bogeys left the Austrian level par for the day through 16 holes before back-to-back gains on the 17th and 18th saw him close out his round on a positive note.
“I am happy with how I played today,” he said.
“I kept my card clean for a long time and the birdie-birdie finish was really nice. I was pretty solid for the whole round where I hit a lot of fairways and greens.
“The ball wasn’t flying anywhere today, and it felt like a completely different golf course with the par fives almost unreachable.
“I am happy to be in contention tomorrow and I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing the past three days.”
Italian Filippo Celli holds solo fifth on 13 under par, one shot ahead of Spaniard Sebastian Garcia. Frenchman Félix Mory sits at 11 under alongside Chinese duo Yanhan Zhou and Bowen Chai.
The final round of the Hangzhou Open gets under way at 8:10am local time on Sunday with Perico and Nemecz teeing off alongside Steinlechner at 10:00am.
