Lars van Miejel will take a two shot lead into the final round of The Challenge presented by KGA at Karnataka Golf Association after producing a bogey-free five under par round of 67 on day three.

The Dutchman birdied three of the opening four holes to get off to the perfect start on moving day in Bangalore, with two more birdies either side of the turn helping him reach 17 under par after 54 holes.

“It was windier than some of the other days,” he said. “It was in a slightly different direction as well so I had to adjust a little bit, but I started well and just tried to keep on hitting good shots. I played nicely.

“You just need to commit to your shots out here. I was just trying to hit the right shots, play smart, make some putts and go from there.”

“I’ve put a lot of effort in with my putting lately and it’s showing. I’ve been putting nicely the last couple of days so I’m happy with that. It all makes a difference. The level is so high. You need to be on top of your game to win.”

Fourth place is shared by Frenchman Frederic Lacroix and Germany’s Michael Hirmer on 14 under, while Kartik Sharma leads the local challenge one shot further back on 13 under par, alongside Road to Mallorca Number Five Ugo Coussaud, from France.

The final round begins at 7.40am local time with the lead group of van Meijel, Fitzpatrick and Girrbach out at 9.20am.