A four-under-par 67 on the third day has lifted Austria&aposs Markus Brier into the lead at the China Open in Shanghai, while Scott Hend is just one shot behind going into the final round. In a remarkable round from Brier, the Austrian hit seven birdies – including three consecutive ones from 12 to 14 – and three bogeys to move from sixth position at the start of the day&aposs play into the lead. Hend (70) also had an impressive day with the Australian picking up three birdies on the back nine to move up one place on the leaderboard into second behind Brier. It was not such a good round for Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin though, as the leader from rounds one and two crashed badly, carding a four-over 75 to drop into a tie for fourth. Two strokes behind Jacquelin is Peter O&aposMalley, whose 67 saw him rise from 34th into a tie for eighth, while Adam Blyth dropped badly, crashing from second at the start of the round into a tie for 11th after carding 76. A third round 73 saw Scott Strange drop out of contention after starting the day on par, while Unho Park (72) and Terry Pilkadaris (72) have dropped off the pace after promising starts to the tournament. New Zealand&aposs Mahal Pearce also hit a solid 71, but has dropped back to a tie for 34th at three-over-par alongside Park and Pilkadaris. Volvo China Open -6: Markus Brier 72 68 67 -5: Scott Hend (AUS) 71 67 70 -4: Andrew McLardy 72 70 67 -3: Richard Sterne 70 71 69, Raphael Jacquelin 68 67 75, Greame McDowell 70 70 70 -2: Andres Romero 71 67 73 -1: Peter O&aposMalley (AUS) 74 71 67, David Griffiths 72 71 69, Jean-Francois Luquin 73 68 71 E: James Kingston 71 72 70, Michel Jonzon 70 72 71, Robert-Jan Derkson 70 72 73, Peter Lawrie 72 71 70, Adam Blyth (AUS) 70 67 76, 1: Prom Meesawat 72 74 68, Brett Rumford (AUS) 72 72 70, Gonzalo Fdez-Costano 71 72 72, Garry Houston 71 73 70, Peter Hanson 72 72 70 also: 2: Scott Strange (AUS) 74 68 73 3: Tony Carolan (AUS) 75 72 69, Unho Park (AUS) 70 74 72, Terry Pilkadaris (AUS) 74 70 72 6: Adam Groom (AUS) 73 72 74, Kane Webber (AUS) 72 73 74 7: Marcus Both (AUS) 74 73 73 11: Marcus Fraser (AUS) 75 72 77
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