Randhawa turned in a four-under 68 studded with five birdies against a bogey in the penultimate round to take his total to 13-under 203. The local favourite trails sole leader and his tee off partner, Taichiro Kiyota (67) of Japan, by one stroke.

Randhawa, who has been playing non-stop for the past seven weeks, could have been atop the leaderboard but for an eventful par-five final hole.

A rather aggressively-hit drive landed in a non-playing area and Randhawa was given a free-drop. Although he did well to chip it back into the greens, the chance of picking up a shot and going into the lead had been blown away.

But far from ruing it, Randhawa said he considered himself lucky to have got away by saving par after the disastrous drive.

The local favourite also blamed his waywardness on the fatigue that has come with playing non-stop. Randhawa admitted that he was pushing his body hard.

Shiv tied seventh

Among the other Indians in the fray, Shiv Kapur was tied for the seventh spot after squandering a good start to turn in a 72, that took his total to 10-under 206.

The overnight leader stuttered after a first-hole birdie to drop a shot on the second before recovering with a couple of birdies on the fourth and sixth.

The recovery was short-lived as he dropped shots on the seventh and ninth to make the turn even-par.

The backward journey turned out to be no better as he bogeyed the 12th and 13th before making another recovery with back-to-back birdies on 14th and 15th.

His rollercoaster ride continued thereafter as well and he first dropped a shot on the 17th before managing to save himself from going over-par with a final hole birdie.

Further down, Jeev Milkha Singh had another ordinary day, carding a second successive two-under 70. The Chadigarh golfer was tied for the 12th spot along side the Orlando-based Arjun Atwal (67) with a total of eight-under 208.

Rahil Gangjee (70) and Mukesh Kumar (70) shared the 21st position with a total of seven-under 209. A stroke adrift was Arjun Singh at the tied 44th spot after carding a one-over 73.

Digvijay Singh (73) was tied for the 48th at four-under 213. Gaganjeet Bhullar (73), at two-under 214, and Rahul Ganpathy (74), at even-par 216 were tied 52nd and 64th respectively.

Defending champion Anton Haig (69) of South Africa was tied 40th and virtually out of contention with a three-day total of five-under 211.

Leading scorers (after 54 holes): 202: Taichiro Kiyota (Jap, 68, 67, 67); 203: Mark Brown (NZ, 71, 68 64),  Jyoti Randhawa (Ind, 70, 65, 68); 205: Phillip Archer (Bri, 72, 64, 69), Greg Chalmers (Aus, 68, 69 68), Graeme Storm (Bri, 70, 66, 69); 206: Shiv Kapur (Ind, 69, 65, 72), Scott Strange (Aus, 71, 67 68), Daniel Vancsik (Arg, 67, 71, 68); 207: Raphael Jacquelin (Fra, 72 68 67), Vijay Singh (Fiji, 70, 68 69); 208: Arjun Atwal (Ind, 69, 72, 67), Scott Barr (Aus, 71, 70, 67), Adam Bland (Aus, 69, 68, 71), Tony Carolan (Aus, 71, 69, 68), James Kamte (RSA, 68, 71, 69), Scott Laycock (Aus, 72, 68, 68), Paul Sheehan (Aus, 68, 70, 70), Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind, 68, 70, 70), Kane Webber (Aus, 73, 69, 66).