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Hong Kong - Ryder Cup star Ian Poulter took command of the $2.5m UBS Hong Kong Open after the third round on Saturday, shooting a six-under-par 64 to lead by two shots from Graeme McDowell.
Poulter's bogey-free round was the joint second-best score of the day as the flamboyant Englishman built on a one-stroke lead going into the weekend.
McDowell sits on his own in second place on 17-under par after his round of 63, while England's Simon Dyson was in third place, one shot further back.
Northern Ireland's McDowell looked set to significantly close the gap on his rival Martin Kaymer at the top of the European Order of Merit, with the German skipping Hong Kong ahead of the season-ending $7.5m Dubai World Championship.
After embarking on a birdie blitz around the Fanling course on Friday in a career-best 60, Poulter found chances a little harder to come by as he finished 19 under overall.
He picked up shots on the second and 13th, as well as an eagle three on the par-five third.
But it was his birdie-birdie finish, with putts of 12 feet on the penultimate hole and 18 feet at the last, that put the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play winner two clear of McDowell.
Poulter still has plenty of work to do to secure a 10th European Tour title on Sunday.
McDowell had an eagle on the 367-yard par-four 10th before collecting three successive birdies from the 13th.
Poulter's compatriot Simon Dyson produced a tidy round of 65 to sit third on 16 under, one ahead of Ulsterman Rory McIlroy and Anthony Kang of the USA.
Noh Seung-yul regained his putting touch after a third-round three-under-par 67 and believes he can put the Asian Tour Order of Merit fight out of touch for closest rival Marcus Fraser.
The Korean teen star, the leader of the Asian money list, shot five birdies over his closing seven holes to move to the middle of the leaderboard.
Noh, who leads the race to become Asia's number one by 243,220 dollars, needs to put the Merit race beyond Fraser's reach as this week could potentially be his final event of the year before he undergoes eye surgery.
For a while, it looked as though Noh was set for another frustrating day after dropping to two over through 10 holes but he fought back with several wonderful birdies to haul himself up the leaderboard.
"It was a good comeback. Yesterday, after 13 or 14 holes, the putting feel came back," he said.
"It was a good finish yesterday and today, I birdied the first hole and then on the second hole, I made a five-foot par putt, which was a good start," said Noh, who has a three-day total of five-under-par 205.
Fraser finished the day tied 11th after carding a three-under 67 for a 12-under-par total. He shot a 64 on Friday to make a significant move up the leaderboard to keep his Merit hopes alive.
Leading third round scores in the $2.5m Hong Kong Open golf tournament on Saturday (par 70):
191 - Ian Poulter (ENG) 67-60
193 - Graeme McDowell (NIR) 65-65-63
194 - Simon Dyson (ENG) 64-65-65
195 - Rory McIlroy (NIR) 63-66-66, Anthony Kang (USA) 67-61-67
196 - Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 63-67-66, Mark Brown (NZL) 62-69-65
197 - Greg Bourdy (FRA) 66-66-65, Jamie Donaldson (WAL) 66-66-65, Matteo Manassero (ITA) 67-63-67
198 - Marcus Fraser (AUS) 68-63-67, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 66-64-68, Anders Hansen (DEN) 66-64-68
200 - Jbe Kruger (RSA) 69-66-65, Darren Clarke (NIR) 72-64-64
201 - Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR) 67-64-70, Soren Hansen (DEN) 64-67-70, Kenneth Ferrie (ENG) 65-66-70
202 - Damien McGrane (IRL) 65-70-67, Tony Carolan (AUS) 70-65-67, Siddikur (BAN) 72-64-66, Young Nam (KOR) 65-71-66, Gareth Maybin (NIR) 67-67-68, Michael Hoey (NIR) 68-65-69, Ben Leong (MAS) 68-68-66, Kunal Bhasin (AUS) 68-67-67
Selected:
205 - Noh Seung-Yul (KOR) 70-68-67
206 - Colin Montgomerie (SCO) 69-68-69, John Daly (USA) 69-66-71
