Caldwell makes a move as Brown breezes into Hainan lead

Steven Brown will take a two stroke lead into the final round of the Hainan Open after he posted a six under par round of 66 at Danzhou Ancient Saltern Golf Club.

The 36-year-old mixed seven birdies with one bogey to move into pole position on 14 under par, two ahead of Switzerland’s Joel Girrbach in second.

The Englishman will tomorrow go in search of a first victory since the Portugal Masters on the DP World Tour in 2019, and is looking forward to the challenge as he believes he thrives under pressure.

“I got off to a great start and holed out a bunker shot for birdie on the first,” he said. “I was pretty solid after that and holed a lot of putts out there. I think I made seven birdies and considering it was windy I am very happy.

“I’m looking forward to tomorrow because I do tend to handle pressure quite well. I have found it hard to get into winning positions recently but I have played very well this week. I’ve got nothing to lose and I can only focus on my own game and see where it leaves me tomorrow afternoon.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Caldwell kept his faint Road to Mallorca Grand Final hopes alive with a round of 69 to move to within six of the lead on eight-under-par.

The Clandeboye man is projected to move to 65th in the Order of Merit needs to continue to climb up the leaderboard on the final day to try and break into the top-45 for the Grand Final next month.

Conor Purcell remains on course but he can’t afford any slip ups after a second successive 72 kept him on five-under-par.

Brown, who is currently placed 70th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, could secure his place at the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A and move into the top 20 on the Rankings with victory tomorrow.

“The pressure was off this week and I knew I could just go out there and express myself,” he said. “I knew I needed to finish in the top three at least to get into the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final and therefore I have just been able to be aggressive and go for everything.

“It’s been nice to approach a tournament with that mindset and it’s certainly paying off at the moment.”

Overnight leader Chuan-lin Jian, six-time Challenge Tour winner Ricardo Gouveia, Englishman Brandon Robinson Thompson, Chinese amateur Wenyi Ding and Spaniard Manuel Elvira share third place on 11 under par.