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Wiesberger blows away field to close in on maiden European Tour victory

April 28, 2012 -- Updated 2207 GMT (0607 HKT)
Austria's Bernd Wiesberger is well placed to claim his first tour victory in Seoul, South Korea after a third round 65
Austria's Bernd Wiesberger is well placed to claim his first tour victory in Seoul, South Korea after a third round 65
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Austria's Bernd Wiesberger fires a second successive round of 65 to extend lead at the Ballentine's Championship in South Korea
  • Jason Dufner takes a one-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Zurich Classic in New Orleans

(CNN) -- Bernd Wiesberger is on course for a maiden European Tour victory after three rounds of the Ballantine's Championship in Seoul, South Korea.

The Austrian leads the field by five strokes after carding a second successive seven-under par round of 65 at the Blackstone Golf Club on Saturday.

Wiesberger finished the day on 14-under-par, well ahead of Australia's Marcus Fraser, who fired a third round 69.

England's Oliver Fisher (67) and Felipe Aguilar (68) from Chile are one shot further back on eight-under par.

"I think that's what you call a great day at the office. It was fun out there. I enjoyed myself and made a lot of putts which was the key to another perfect day. I don't know if I've ever gone two bogey-free 65s in a row, so it was great," Wiesberger said, EuropeanTour.com reported.

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The 25-year-old produced a brilliant back nine to put himself in pole position for Sunday's final round bagging five birdies.

Wiesberger's previous best finish on tour came last November when he was runner-up to Hennie Otto at the South African Open Championship.

Ireland's Paul McGinley matched Wiesberger's score on Saturday but is seven strokes adrift of the leader tied for fifth place with Miguel Angel Jimenez who shot a 69 on Saturday.

Local favorite Y.E. Yang shot a superb 66 to finish in a tie for 11th place. The South Korean is one of seven players, including England's Ian Poulter and France's Gregory Havret who are nine shots off the lead.

I think that's what you call a great day at the office. It was fun out there. I enjoyed myself and made a lot of putts which was the key to another perfect day
Bernd Wiesberger

Meanwhile on the PGA Tour, Jason Dufner is leading at the halfway stage of the Zurich Classic in New Orleans.

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The American, who fired a seven-under par 65 to finish on 12-under par on Friday, leads by one from compatriot's Ken Duke and John Rollins and Scotland's Russell Knox.

Dufner, who has found himself in the lead at the halfway stage in two of his last four events (including the Masters) only to fade out of contention, is looking to finally close out a tournament and claim his first PGA Tour victory.

"It's been a difficult weekend for me the last month and a half or so. I haven't quite played as well as I would have liked, but I know that my game is still pretty good," Dufner said, PGATour.com reported.

"I've been trying to think about what I can do better mentally, what I can do better emotionally out there and learn from some things that I maybe struggled with. Obviously, there's a lot of different things that go into winning besides hitting the golf ball," Dufner added, PGATour reported.

Greg Chalmers produced the round of the day finishing with a 64, a score which puts him two shots behind Dufner on 10-under par.

The Australian is joined by South Africa's Ernie Els and America's Steve Stricker on the same score after both men posted 68 on Friday.

Masters champion Bubba Watson had another solid round of 71, but at two-under par is unlikely to be making a successful defense of the title he won last year.

World No.2 Luke Donald enjoyed a better day on Friday shooting a 65 after an opening 73 to leave him six-under par in a tie for 22nd place.

The Englishman needs to finish sixth or better to pinch top spot back from Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy.

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