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| Paul Dunne in Shenzen - Getty Images |
Paul Dunne was two under par after twelve holes in the third round of the Shenzen International in China when bad light stopped play.
The Greystones golfer reached the ninth tee without loss and then birdied the next two consecutive holes to reach the twelfth green -2 as darkness fell. He was among a number of players in the chase as Soomin Lee saw his lead cut to two shots by Englishman Callum Shinkwin.
The delayed third round saw a brilliant 62 from Shinkwin to put some pressure on the overnight leader.
Over six and a half hours had been lost on days one and two, meaning 35 players did not start their second rounds until Saturday morning, and Lee will have seven holes to complete in his third on Sunday.
The South Korean was one of the players who managed to complete his second round on Friday and none of those who returned on Saturday morning could reduce his three-shot overnight lead.
Lee had extended that to five after three holes of his third round with a birdie on the second but Shinkwin was stealing the show as he turned in 29 to surge through the field.
The 22 year old had played his entire second round in the morning and was in the final group to finish as he recorded a second consecutive 71 to sit just two shots above the cut-line.
He showed no signs of fatigue, though, and birdied the 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th and 16th with an eagle on the 17th to get into a five-way tie for second at nine under.
Lee Slattery birdied the fourth to get to ten under but Shinkwin joined him on the second and when the M2M Russian Open champion bogeyed the seventh, Shinkwin held second all on his own.
A long curling putt on the difficult fifth cut the gap to three shots and the Englishman also birdied the ninth for what would have been a course record at this event but for the presence of preferred lies.
"Tournament-wise it's my lowest round by three shots, so it's nice to be able to do that," he said.
"To tell the truth, I missed a couple of putts as well but it was a great round.
"I drove the ball great and on the par fives, I took advantage of the good tee shots."
Lee made nine pars in a row after that birdie on the second to get to 14 under and has yet to drop a shot this week as he hunts a first European Tour title after finishing second at the Maybank Championship Malaysia.
"I was a little bit nervous today but it turned out okay because I was chipping it well and I was making short putts so that kept me feeling confident," he said.
"I will just try and hit the fairways and hit the greens and just focus on keeping bogeys off the card.
“This week is really helping my game and my confidence. When I played in Malaysia, I felt very nervous but if I have a chance towards the end tomorrow, I think I will be better this time.”
Joost Luiten had started the third round at ten under but was one over for his round through 11 holes, alongside Paul Dunne who had played 12 and Alexander Levy who had completed 13.
Thorbjørn Olesen was then at eight under after a 67 in his third round, with Bradley Dredge, Sébastien Gros and Eduardo de la Riva all also in that group with holes to complete.
Play will resume at 6.30am on Sunday morning in China.
