Wu Ashun celebrated the Chinese New Year in style as he carded a 67 that handed him a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
The Chinese holed out from the rough on the first for a spectacular eagle and added four birdies before a bogey on the 16th dropped him to 11 under, one shot clear of Frenchman Victor Perez.
England’s Tom Lewis was in a share of third at nine under alongside Ryder Cup star and defending champion Bryson DeChambeau and another American in Kurt Kitayama.
British Open champion Shane Lowry is currently five shots off the lead after he posted a second-consecutive round of 69. Lowry carded four birdies and dropped a single shot to stay in the fringes of contention.
Leader Wu let out a cry of “Happy Chinese New Year” as he celebrated his incredible second shot on the par four opener, and was happy to be out in front as he looks for a fourth European Tour win.
“That’s my ‘Happy Chinese New Year Shot’,” he told europeantour.com.
“I’m very comfortable and very relaxed for the weekend and playing the final round. I’m always happy to play the final round in the final group.”
Lewis was bogey-free as he matched the lowest round of the week so far with a 65 and he could have gone even lower, missing a putt for eagle after an excellent second on the par five 18th.
“I’m really happy,” he said. “I haven’t really shot many low scores around here, so to shoot that score is great.
“I missed a couple of opportunities but I made a very good up-and-down on the 16th, so it kind of evens itself out.”
Perez came home in 31 as he carded a 67, three shots better than DeChambeau, who chipped in at the 12th and closed his round with a pair of birdies but also made four bogeys.
England’s Eddie Pepperell was at eight under, a shot clear of countryman Tommy Fleetwood.
Collated third round scores in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic (Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72):
205 Ashun Wu (Chn) 69 69 67
206 Victor Perez (Fra) 73 66 67
207 Kurt Kitayama (USA) 69 70 68, Bryson DeChambeau (USA) 70 67 70, Tom Lewis 73 69 65
208 Eddie Pepperell 69 67 72
209 Dean Burmester (Rsa) 69 68 72, Tommy Fleetwood 75 65 69, Nacho Elvira (Spa) 73 70 66
210 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 69 76 65, Shane Lowry 72 69 69, Grant Forrest 73 68 69
211 Adri Arnaus (Spa) 72 68 71, Lucas Herbert (Aus) 69 71 71, Jeff Winther (Den) 76 70 65, Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 73 66 72, Robert Macintyre 74 70 67, Romain Langasque (Fra) 69 69 73
212 Mike Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 74 71 67, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 71 70 71, Jack Singh Brar 71 71 70, Ryan Fox (Nzl) 76 70 66
213 Kalle Samooja (Fin) 69 74 70, Sebastian Heisele (Ger) 70 69 74, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 71 72 70, Jordan Smith 72 70 71, Mikko Korhonen (Fin) 74 71 68, Benjamin Hebert (Fra) 72 73 68, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 67 77 69
214 Mathiam Keyser (Rus) 74 68 72, Shaun Norris (Rsa) 69 73 72, Matthias Schwab (Aut) 72 72 70, Scott Jamieson 74 71 69, David Lipsky (USA) 68 75 71, Erik Van Rooyen (Rsa) 70 75 69, Gavin Green (Mal) 73 71 70, Matthew Fitzpatrick 74 71 69, Nino Bertasio (Ita) 74 70 70, Henrik Stenson (Swe) 72 70 72
215 Justin Harding (Rsa) 71 73 71, Matthieu Pavon (Fra) 69 71 75, Miguel Angel Jimenez (Spa) 72 74 69, Ian Poulter 71 73 71, Nicolas Colsaerts (Bel) 77 69 69
216 Robert Karlsson (Swe) 69 68 79, Callum Shinkwin 73 73 70, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 72 71 73, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 71 72 73
217 Joost Luiten (Ned) 72 72 73, Masahiro Kawamura (Jpn) 69 73 75, Adrian Otaegui (Spa) 72 71 74, Thomas Detry (Bel) 73 72 72
218 Tapio Pulkkanen (Fin) 73 73 72, Alexander Bjork (Swe) 77 69 72, Gaganjeet Bhullar (Ind) 73 71 74, Julien Guerrier (Fra) 71 74 73, Danny Willett 76 70 72, Lorenzo Gagli (Ita) 75 70 73, Aaron Rai 77 69 72
219 Joachim B. Hansen (Den) 75 70 74, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 77 69 73, David Drysdale 74 71 74, Richie Ramsay 73 73 73, Sean Crocker (USA) 72 72 75, Padraig Harrington 71 75 73, Lee Westwood 78 68 73
220 Zander Lombard (Rsa) 71 75 74
221 Niklas Norgaard Moller (Den) 74 72 75
222 David Law 75 71 76, Romain Wattel (Fra) 70 76 76
223 Sebastian Soderberg (Swe) 71 75 77
