Ernie Els pulls five shots clear

Ernie Els reinforced his stellar reputation in impressive fashion after a round of four-under-par 68 saw him stretch his lead to five shots after 54 holes at the BMW Asian Open in Shanghai .

The South African, already a winner in Dubai and at the joint-sanctioned Qatar Masters in 2005, looks set to add a third title to his haul at Tomson Shanghai Pudong Golf Club. He has posted a three-day aggregate of 19-under-par 197, the equal lowest under-par total after three days on the Asian Tour this year alongside Thongchai Jaidee in Malaysia .

That proved enough for a seemingly insurmountable lead over England 's Simon Wakefield, who is in second, with Thomas Bjorn outright third, two more shots behind. Jean-Francois Lucquin is another shot back in fourth and Korean-born New Zealander Eddie Lee is fifth on his own at 206.

Local favourite Zhang Lian-wei is still in the mix for a finish the home fans will appreciate at six-under and in equal 13th, while defending BMW Asian Open champion Miguel Angel Jimenez recorded a 69 and lies in joint 26th position.

The US$1.5 million BMW Asian Open is being joint-sanctioned by the Asian and European Tours for the fourth time, with 2005 the second year in a row that it has been played at the Tomson course.

For Els, the man known as the ‘Big Easy', it was a day of mixed fortunes after yesterday's stunning 62. He started the ball rolling with a birdie at the first, before two more front-nine birdies were offset with bogeys at four and nine. The trend continued early on the run home, before birdies at 13, 14 and 18 allowed him to post his 68.

Els remains focused heading into the final day. “Big leads don't mean you are always in the clear. You can look at what the other guys do, but I have to play the golf course as well as I can. I have to try and play aggressively where I can and not make mistakes.

“If I can do that, hopefully it will work out for me. If I shoot something under 70 tomorrow, it will be hard for the guys to beat me,” he added.

Wakefield and Bjorn worked themselves into position to challenge for victory should Els falter, although the Dane was well aware of the task in front of the chasers.

“He (Els) has a five-shot lead at the moment, he is playing well and he is the player that he is. You have to go out and play good golf and try and produce a 63 or a 64 from somewhere and see if something happens with it. But there are just too many ifs and buts. You have to go out and play your golf, do your best and see what happens,” said Bjorn.

Continuing his stunning form reversal this week, the Asian Tour's 21-year-old Lee refused to wilt under the pressure of an indifferent start in the company of Els. After bogeys at the fifth and sixth holes, a birdie at nine put him back on track. Another came at 14 and he held on to post a 73.

If today was a learning experience, he is looking forward to finishing the job tomorrow. “I really enjoyed playing with Ernie. He was really good and was a gentleman and we had a lot of fun. It is a bit disappointing, but tomorrow I will try and get out there and do better.”

Jeev Milkha Singh is another in place for an Asian push, as the Indian brought the form that sees him in sixth position on both the Asian and Japan money lists to Shanghai . With a 70 today, he is tied for sixth and believes attacking play will be the key tomorrow.

Said Singh: “I am going to be aggressive and I am going to try and shoot a low number. To finish 10th or 30th is much the same thing, so I will go out there and try and be very aggressive and see what happens.”

Among the other Asian players, Mo Joong-kyung of Korean, Thailand 's Thaworn Wiratchant and Indian Jyoti Randhawa are all tied for 20th and will be seeking a strong finish tomorrow in a bid to secure a top-10 placing or better.

This year sees the fourth edition of the joint-sanctioned BMW Asian Open, which was won by Jimenez last year. Previous winners also include Jarmo Sandelin (2001) and Padraig Harrington (2002), both triumphant at Ta Shee Golf & Country Club in Taipei .

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