Tianjin, China – Branden Grace is in position for his third victory of the European Tour season, vaulting to the top of the leaderboard at the China Open on Saturday with an eight-under 64 in the third round.
Grace, who won a pair of tournaments in his native South Africa in January, is 18-under par through 54 holes and has a three-shot lead over defending China Open champ Nicolas Colsaerts, who posted a six-under 66 on Saturday.
Fabrizio Zanotti of Paraguay matched Grace with a third-round 64 at the Binhai Lake Golf Club and is alone in third place at 14-under. Alexander Noren fired the low round of the week with a nine-under 63 on Saturday and is tied for fourth with Ignacio Garrido (67), Marcus Fraser (67), George Coetzee (64) and second-round co-leader Jean-Baptiste Gonnet (70) at minus-13.
Gary Boyd, who shared the 36-hole lead with Gonnet, is six shots off the pace at 12-under after managing only a one-under 71 on Saturday.