The Taiwan veteran, who leads on five-under-par 208, dropped a 25-foot putt for birdie at the last hole to signal his intention for back-to-back success on a sun-baked Santiburi Samui Country Club course yesterday.

Singapore's Mardan Mamat stumbled with three closing bogeys for a 72 to be tied for second place with Thailand's Prayad Marksaeng, who returned a 74 in the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.

Deaf Korean Lee Sung battled to a 70 to be tied for fourth place alongside Canadian veteran Rick Gibson, who shot a 71 to lie four back on 212.

Thaworn Wiratchant of Thailand, the reigning Asian No 1, endured a nightmarish start with two double bogeys and a bogey in his opening three holes before salvaging a 72 to remain on the fringe of contention on 213.

"I'm happy with the lead," said the 43-year-old Lu. "If I shoot even par tomorrow, I will have a good chance to win this tournament. It was tough out there again with the winds making it difficult and I was happy to finish strongly."

After a birdie on the first Lu, who won last year's title in a play-off, tripped up with a triple bogey seven after hooking a drive. He bounced back with three birdies on the ninth, 16th and 18th with two more dropped shots on the 13th and 17th.

Lu said his 25-foot conversion at the 18th was crucial. "It was a big putt as it gave me a three-shot lead into tomorrow."

Prayad, a five-time Asian Tour winner, was all over the course with his driving as he mixed his card with three birdies, a bogey, a double bogey and a triple bogey. He plans to use his old driver today.

"Lu played nicely as he hit it straight and putted really well," said the Thai, who is seventh on the Asian Tour's Order of Merit. "But three shots back is nothing on this course. I played badly as I drove it left and right. There were too many poor shots in the round and I even hit a 'shank'," said Prayad.

Singapore's Mardan was swapping the lead all day with Lu in the final group and was two-under for the round with three holes remaining. But lapses in concentration saw him drop bogeys over his last three holes with missed putts from close range on the 16th and 17th and finding trouble on the 18th from off the tee.

"The course set up was tough, especially when some of the tees were moved back," said Mardan. "You've got to respect the golf course. I lost a bit of concentration towards the end of the round and that was it for me," added Mardan, who won the co-sanctioned Singapore Masters earlier this season.

Gibson gave credit to his 14-year-old son Karl, caddying for the first time this week, for keeping him on an even keel following a poor start where he was two-over through 11 holes. But birdies on the 15th and 16th from seven and 12 feet pushed the Manila-based Canadian into contention.

"I missed a short putt on two and I got quite angry with myself. Maybe I had a bit too much energy this morning. I guess the angry spurt took a bit of the edge off and I played pretty good after that.

"I thought he [Karl] was the emotional one. His emotions were as flat as a pancake and he's holding me in there. I just need to remember we're playing a game and not to take yourself too seriously as if you get angry, you'll loose concentration."

Only four players broke par in the third round at the challenging par-71 Santiburi layout. Thaworn had the worst of starts, soaring to five-over in his opening three holes. But the reigning Asian Tour No 1 fought back with five birdies and has not discounted his title hopes.

"Anything can happen on this course," said the 39-year-old, who won four titles in a record-breaking season last year. "I went double, double, bogey in my first three holes but I'm happy that I fought back. I wasn't angry at all with my bad start and I hit some good shots after that to keep the round going.

"We had some really tough pins out there and the winds were always tricky. If it's like this again tomorrow, I think four-under-par total could be the winning number.

While simply saving par was tough enough for most players, two-time Asian Tour No 1 Thongchai Jaidee had the best score of the day with a three-under. He started strongly with four successive birdies, but ended with a bogey on the 18th to finish with a two-over 215.

"I'm happy to hit three-under while others hit over par. If I can keep playing like this I sill have a chance on the fourth day because all the leaders might have a bad day," said Thongchai.