Rumford scrambles for lead in China Open

Australian Brett Rumford scrambled to a three-under-par 69 at the Volvo China Open Saturday, to take a one shot lead going into the final round. Rumford, 12 under in the $3.2 million OneAsia tournament, was helped in part after Finland's Mikko Ilonen (73) blew his share of the lead with a bogey on the last after his tee shot found the water. Spain's Pablo Larrazabal (69) was third, a shot further behind, while Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat (72) found his putter turned cold and was alone in fourth at nine under. Rumford, who ended a six-year drought on the European Tour with victory at the Ballantine's Championship in Korea last week, missed six greens during Saturday's round, but scrambled par each time. "That was a tough day, a really tiring day, I really started to feel it on the back nine," Rumford said in a OneAsia press release. "I was fortunate enough to make some good up and downs today, but a lot of the areas where I was missing it were seemingly pretty easy to get up and down." Ilonen started with a bogey that he repaired on the next hole and did the same again at six and seven before parring everything until the last. "Overall I still played pretty well, I just didn't give myself enough birdie chances," he said, "but I hung in there nicely, and I've still got a good chance tomorrow. He described the day's play at the Tianjin Binhai Lake Golf Club as a "good fight", adding he would have to play very well to beat Rumford on the last day. France's Victor Dubuisson made the biggest charge of the day with a 66 that lifted him to a share of sixth place at seven under, with first round leader Robert-Jan Derksen (73). Teenage amateur Dou Zecheng put in another excellent performance, finishing the third round with a level par 72 to stand two under for the tournament. Dou, 16, made it into the tournament via regional qualifying and was the only amateur to make the cut -- as well as the youngest in the event's 19-year history. "I had some good iron shots and my putting was especially good today, but I still need to improve on my distance," he said. From: AFP