( CNN ) -- Brett Rumford is enjoying the European Tour 's 'Asian Swing ' and is well placed to secure back to back victories by taking a one-shot lead into the final round of the China Open Sunday . The Australian , who won the Ballantine 's Championship in Korea last weekend with an eagle at the first playoff hole , carded a third round three-under 69 in blustery conditions at the Binhai Lake Golf Club . Rumford , 35 , carded a hat-trick of birdies to catch overnight leader Mikko Ilonen and the Finn bogeyed the last after driving into the water to relinquish the lead . It left Rumford on 12-under 204 , one clear of Illonen , with Spain 's Pablo Larrazabal in third , a further shot back . Thailand 's Kiradech Aphibarnrat will go into the final round in fourth -- three behind . The tournament has been notable for the appearance of teenage local players , notably 12-year-old Ye Wocheng , who missed the cut . But his amateur counterpart , Dou Zecheng , a relative veteran at 16 , continued to impress and carded a level-par 72 for two-under overall . `` I had some good iron shots and my putting was especially good today , but I still need to improve on my distance , '' he told AFP . Up front , Rumford has taken charge but acknowledged conditions were difficult , particularly on the back nine . `` That was a tough day , '' he told the official European Tour website . `` I really started to feel things on the back nine . I did really well to hang in nicely with some tired golf swings , I mentally stayed with it -- physically not so much but mentally I hung in there . '' Defending champion Branden Grace of South Africa was the last player to win two successive events on the European Tour , back in January 2012 . He is nine shots behind in China after a third round 72 . Meanwhile , on the PGA Tour , Phil Mickelson grabbed a share of the halfway lead at the $ 6.7 million Fargo Championship in North Carolina . The legendary `` leftie '' carded a five-under 67 at Quail Hollow to stand on a nine-under 135 . Australia 's Scott Gardiner , who matched Mickelson 's 67 , was tied for second on 137 with Americans Nick Watney and George McNeill . World No.2 Rory McIlroy shared fifth place with five others , three behind . Mickelson finished second behind McIlroy at Quail Hollow in 2010 and is tuning up for the U.S. Open championship at Merion next month . Northern Ireland 's McIlroy , one of seven joint leaders after the first round , shot a one-under 71 to be tied with England 's Lee Westwood , Australian Rod Pampling and home pair Jason Kokrak and Derek Ernst .
Brett Martin leads The Open by a shot after third round . Rumford is bidding for successive wins on the PGA Tour . Local amateur David Wocheng continues to play . Phil Martin leads Wells Fargo Championship on PGA Tour .