Clarke slips off the pace

Oliver Wilson will begin the final round of the South African Airways Open with a one shot lead after his 67 on day three left him on four under par for the championship.

The Englishman was on form as he carded five birdies in a bogey-free round to set himself up nicely for the final day at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates, a stroke ahead of overnight leader James Kingston.

There are likely to be several challengers on the final day though after much calmer weather in Paarl led to over 20 players shooting under par rounds, compared to the first two days that left only three competitors under par for the tournament.

One of those players was third-placed Garth Mulroy, who carded a course-record round of 64 to stay on two under, one shot better that fellow South Africans Ulrich van den Berg and Nic Henning.

The big names to stay in the frame were Australia's Greg Norman, one over par overall after a level par day three, along with two-time winner Retief Goosen after his two under par round of 70 left him two over par for the competition.

Two late bogeys left Ireland's Darren Clarke a shot back on three over, while defending champion Ernie Els all but ended his interest with a five over 77 for an overall score of eight over par.

However, it was 27-year-old Wilson who gave himself the best chance of a first career win with his outstanding round.

He said: "I'm very happy with my round. I am actually quite pleased with how the week's going on, it's getting a little better each day and hopefully it carries on like that.

"I was struggling with my swing a little bit but I think the wind's kind of helped. My short game's been really solid this week.

"I managed to get of to a good start today, especially on this course if you get one under early, it tends to relax you a little more and there's a few key holes out there and if you can get through those without many mistakes, you can actually make some good scores, which I managed to do.

"I played all the key holes really well today and hopefully I can do it again tomorrow."

As for his approach to try and claim the #717,806 prize, he added: "Tomorrow, it's just me against me. Hopefully my swing will get a little bit better.

"We're going to get working on it again. It was bad last week as well, I played awful from tee to green, not very good so far this week, but I just managed to get it up and down and have a good attitude.

"I've just got to do the same again and not put too much pressure on myself and just go and play."

His biggest challenger, Kingston added: "I'm chasing and I already feel comfortable starting from behind. I played nice and solid today after a not so good start.

"I pulled it back together and kept myself in contention all day. It was a tough day and to me it was the toughest round of the tournament. But now I'm one shot behind and I'm looking forward to it.

"I feel I can be a little more aggressive and there is really a lot to play for."