Local favourite Mardan Mamat took a one-shot lead after the third round of the Singapore Masters, despite being forced to sit out an untimely 90-minute weather warning.
The overnight leader was cruising on 13-under after 16 holes, but bogeys on the final two holes dragged him back towards the chasing pack, headed by defending champion Nick Dougherty of England.
"I'm still leading the tournament and you never know what will happen tomorrow," Mardan told reporters. "I am looking forward to it.
"To have your home crowd cheering for you is good but at the same time they should know what I am faced with.
"I just want to keep myself relaxed and play it hole-by-hole."
Dougherty fired a five-under 67 in an erratic round that included eight birdies, a bogey and a double bogey but remains more content with his position on the leaderboard than the standard of his play.
"I achieved what I wanted to achieve today and put myself past a lot of the other challengers," said the 23-year-old Liverpudlian. "I am not hitting the ball as good as I like and am not playing anywhere near the quality of golf I did last year, but I am getting the job done."
Britain's Ross Fisher (68) and South Korea's Charlie Wi (65) are tied for third place on nine-under, a shot ahead of Thailand's Chapchai Nirat, who finished with a six-under 66 after 11 birdies - six in a row from the second - a double bogey and a triple-bogey six.
Irishman Michael Hoey’s challenge faltered after a 74 dropped him back to two-under, while Dubliner Peter Lawrie is two-over par thanks to a 76. The pair had shot a 65 and a 69 in their respective second rounds.
After a steady opening two rounds David Higgins slipped back to three-over with a third-round 76.
Starting his round with a one-stroke lead over Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, Mardan registered four birdies and 12 pars before driving into the bunker on the par-three 17th to record his first bogey of the day and fall back to 12-under for tournament.
After hitting his approach shot at the last into the fringe of the green, Mardan and his two playing partners were called off the course due to a weather warning as storm clouds gathered above the par-72 Laguna National Golf and Country Club.
After sitting under cover for an hour and a half, Mardan returned and will be disappointed to have taken three more shots to hole out for a second consecutive two-under 70.
The 38-year-old has shared or held the lead since the tournament began on Thursday at the $1 million co-sanctioned European and Asian Tour event.
Dougherty, however, remains determined to defend his title and believes he has the edge over his rival.
"I have a game plan. If I shoot six-under tomorrow, he (Mardan) is going to have to play well to beat me."
