THIRD ROUND LEADERBOARD:
-11 I Poulter (Eng) -10 G McDowell (NI) -8 L Weng-chong (Chi) -6 A Dodt (Aus), N Fasth (Swe), A Hansen (Den), S Hend (Aus), K Ichihara (Jpn), K Kuboya (Jpn), L Weng-Tang (Tai)
Selected others:-5 E Els (SA)

Poulter's poor start to his third round undid his fine second

Ian Poulter salvaged a one-stroke lead heading into the final round of the weather-delayed Singapore Open.

Poulter had seen a five stroke halfway lead wiped away in just six holes of his third round, including a disastrous double-bogey at the 4th.

But after a thunderstorm halted play, the Englishman returned on Sunday and reached 11 under with five birdies.

Graeme McDowell is one shot behind Poulter after an impressive 67 while China's Liang Wen-chong is eight under.

Poulter looked to already have one hand on the trophy after hitting seven birdies in flawless second round to lead by five from Sweden's Daniel Chopra and qualifier Chan Yih-shin of Chinese Taipei.

But after three putting the first to card an opening bogey, he opted to use a fairway wood from the greenside bunker on the fourth and only managed to find the water.

606: DEBATE What are your thoughts on Poulter's performance?

Following a drop, he finally made the green in four before three putting from 60ft to see his lead cut further.

On the sixth green, Poulter faced a 6ft putt to maintain his lead but was unable to convert shortly before the approaching storm sent the players back to the clubhouse.

But despite the poor start, Poulter was delighted with the way he bounced back in the second half of his round on Sunday.

"It's all fine really. If you are going to shoot one-over-par, there are a few ways of doing it," he said.

"I would rather do it the way I have than made 17 pars and a bogey because I've made five birdies and I'm still hitting good shots.

"I made a couple of bad choices on Saturday. The decision on four I really should have laid up, but when everything is going right you seen to make the right decisions all the time, but that was a wrong one.

"But to turn it round and hit the shots I have on the back nine I'm pretty happy."

McDowell missed a six-foot birdie putt at the last which would have secured a share of the lead just minutes before Poulter scrambled from a greenside bunker to convert a par.

However the 30-year-old McDowell is happy to be back in contention after battling with swing problems since his 10th place finish at the US PGA Championship in August.

"It was a good morning. I played the back nice nicely and I hope that continues," he said.

"It feels good to be back in the mix, it has been too long, probably since the PGA that I have really felt in the mix in a tournament.

"It's been a frustrating couple of months, but you have to just hang in there and wait for your chances and keep positive."

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