Oliver Wilson leads into final round

Oliver Wilson grabbed the outright lead from fellow Briton Miles Tunnicliff after the third round of the New Zealand Open on Saturday.

Wilson followed up his earlier rounds of 66 and 65 with a four-under-par 68 for a total of 17 under par at the Gulf Harbour Resort course near Auckland.

"I'm really pleased with today -- that was big for me, to stay up there is nice," Wilson told a news conference.

"Tomorrow's probably going to be the same conditions so it's just grind it out again and stay in a good frame of mind and do the same things I've been doing.

Tunnicliff bogeyed the last two holes for a round of 70 to finish a shot behind Wilson at 16 under par and two clear of Australian left-hander Richard Green who moved to third place with a 69.

Overnight leader Niclas Fasth, of Sweden, lost ground after a round of 75 to join Australian pair Marcus Fraser and Simon Nash at 13-under while Australia's Peter O'Malley and Britain's Lee Slattery charged up the leaderboard to 12-under with rounds of 66.

Wilson made the perfect start to his third round with birdies on the first four holes before coming unstuck with consecutive bogeys at nine and 10.

The 24-year-old, playing in just his fifth European Tour event after turning professional 18 months ago, recovered with three more birdies in the next five holes to reach 18-under. A bogey at 16 dropped him back but Wilson is still in sight of his first senior tour title.

"It's a nice position to be in but people can go out there and tear the course apart or you can drop shots, so it's nice to have the lead and it's nice to have an extra shot but so much can happen out there," Wilson said.

"I'm not nervous at the moment but I'm sure I will be in the morning and I don't think I'll get too much sleep tonight."

Tunnicliff, one of three players who equalled the course record of 63 on Friday, also reached 18-under but his dropped shots on the last two holes meant he surrendered the lead.

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