H

aving been nowhere to be seen in the top three positions for the first two days, Japanese Daisuke Kataoka put in a commanding, if not surprising performance in the third round to take top place at the CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters golf tournament on Saturday.

He pulled to six-under 66 for an overall 205, one shot over South African Ernie Els and Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, jointly in second place.

After languishing in fifth and ninth on the first and second day respectively, the 24-year-old Daisuke stole the spotlight on the penultimate day by booking eight birdies and two bogeys at the Royale Jakarta Golf Club.

'I'm striking the ball very well. My putting was great today. I never changed anything, but somehow I just felt more confident with my putting. I've mastered the speed of the greens and that made my round slightly easier,' said Kataoka.

'This is my first time leading. When I looked at the scores, I saw many good players chasing me, so I hope to have some luck to win. It won't be easy,' he added.

While lurking with Els behind the leader, the European Tour winner Wiesberger felt more optimistic of winning the tournament after Saturday's round that saw him card a 67 with six birdies against one bogey.

'I played unbelievably well today. I was a little unlucky yesterday as I couldn't get the putter working. Otherwise I would've been able to shoot under-par rounds these last three days.'

'I hope to get more fortunate on the greens tomorrow and if I can do that, I don't see why I won't win tomorrow' he said.

The 'Big Easy' Els, who bounced back from jetlag, shot a 68. He carded five birdies against one bogey, making him one of the tough contenders for the top prize in the US$750,000 tournament.

'I really played good golf today. My body felt good and my concentration was pretty good as well. I just try to hang in there. I hit a lot of good shots, missed a lot of putts and in the end, I grinded out a 68 which I feel is really coming around. I'm looking forward to tomorrow,' he said.

Andik Mauludin, the only Indonesian to have made the cut to contend the next round, shot a nine over par 80, which placed him at the bottom of the leaderboard. 'I played really bad today. I was so eager to play good but it made me exhausted instead. I aimed to play safe on the third day after playing all out in the first two days,' he told The Jakarta Post.

He added that he played well in the first nine holes but the rest were a disaster. He shot four bogeys, two double bogeys and a birdie.

Overnight leader Thongchai Jaidee of Thailand slipped back to tie sixth place after faltering to a 75.

'Thongchai played well yesterday but thankfully for us chasing him, he had a slow day and we now have a host of players that can win tomorrow,' Els said.

Thongchai struggled to stretch his overnight two-shot lead. He needs a top-three finish this week to jump inside of the top-60 on the Official World Golf Rankings and give himself a strong chance of qualifying for the US Open next month.