KUALA LUMPUR, March 2: Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth fired a two-under-par 69 to lead the Malaysian Open by two strokes after three rounds Saturday, but blotted an otherwise bogey-free card with a dropped shot at the last.

That slip-up, a three-putt from 40 feet which left him at 16-under 197, gave a late boost to Spain’s Ignacio Garrido, whose second successive 67 lifted him into second place at 199.

Another Spaniard, Miguel Angel Martin, and Australia’s Stephen Leaney were a further shot back at 13 under in a tie for third.

Forsyth promised an encore to his blistering opening rounds of 63 and 65 at the 71-par Royal Selangor Golf Club, reeling off three birdies on the front nine to turn in 33.

But a birdie-free return and his lapse at the last left him with a 69, four shy of the day’s best round but good enough for him to lead a tournament for the first time going into the final day.

The Malaysian Open, played for a $1 million prize fund, is co-sanctioned between the European and Asian PGA Tours.

Forsyth’s advantage could have been even less, though, as Garrido could only rue mistakes made from the tricky rough in a round featuring seven birdies and three bogeys.

Australian Leaney, one of four players to shoot 66 on Saturday, was confident about his own chances of victory going into the last day.

Last year’s runner-up Padraig Harrington of Ireland, Welshman Ian Woosnam, Argentina’s Eduardo Romero and Swede Richard Johnson matched Leaney’s 66, one short of the day’s best by Jorge Berendt, another Argentine player.

Leading third round scores

197 Alastair Forsyth 63 65 69

199 Ignacio Garrido 65 67 67

200 Miguel Angel Martin 66 63 71, Stephen Leaney 67 67 66 201 Richard Johnson 68 67 66

202 Anthony Kang 66 65 71, Ricardo Gonzalez 65 69 68 203 Mike Cunning 69 65 69, Alex Cejka 68 65 70, Prayad Marksaeng 69 67 67, Padraig Harrington 70 67 66, Ian Woosnam 68 69 66 204 Michael Campbell 69 66 69, Arjun Singh 67 67 70, Brad Kennedy 68 67 69, Eduardo Romero 68 70 66.—Reuters