KEY POINTS:
Danny Lee will take a six shot advantage into today's final round of the North Island Golf Championships in Whakatane.
There were none of the fireworks in his third round one-under 69 but his challengers were not able to mount any significant challenge at the Whakatane Golf Club
yesterday.
Fellow New Zealand representative Dana Kim (Christchurch) re-established herself firmly in control of the women's championship, now leading by eight shots, with the males and females playing alongside each other for the first time in this event.
Lee had a sedate round by his standards, mixing two birdies with a solitary dropped shot to give his rivals every chance to bridge the gap, finishing with a three round total of 14-under par 196.
The main charge came from Canterbury's Tyrone Nelson, who made three birdies in his last six holes to move to eight-under par.
In the burgeoning bevy of teenage golfing talent, Nelson, at 31, bucked the trend with his four-under 66 for this talented Cantabrian who is looking forward to the final round.
"I've given up smoking and that has made a huge difference, and I have worked hard on my mental approach and my putting," Nelson said. "I really believe I can win tomorrow and I am really looking forward to playing with Danny in the final group."
The 2006 national champion Andrew Green (Shandon) shot a one-under 69 to move to seven-under and a share of third place with Rotorua's Landyn Edwards, who had the same score.
In the women's race Kim, who started the day locked in the lead with Muriwai's Rica Tse, bolted clear with a two-under 68, her second sub-par round of the tournament.
She started well with three birdies in her opening nine holes before dropping three shots in six holes. However, the 19-year-old showed her class with two late birdies to resurrect her telling advantage.
Kiwi golfer Mark Brown, playing in his first tournament in the United States, was well down the field after the second round of the WGC-CA Championships yesterday.
Brown added a 74 to his first round 73 for a total of 147 - 15 shots behind the leader, Australian Geoff Ogilvy.
The 2006 US Open champion held off the challenge of world No 1 Tiger Woods to lead by a shot.
Another New Zealander, Tim Wilkinson, was in a tie for 10th at the Puerto Rico Open after shooting a second-round 67.
- AGENCIES
