The 36-hole lead of 9-under was not advanced on moving day, overnight co-leaders Corey Lamb and Will Florimo both posting 1-over 73 to drop back to 8-under and open the door for Tighe to move clear.

Three-under on his round after back-to-back birdies at nine and 10, Tighe made two bogeys of his own at 11 and 13 but finished with five straight pars for a round of 1-under 71 and a one-stroke advantage.

Round 3 takeaways

• Fighting through illness, Will Florimo dropped three shots late to fall from 11-under to 8-under
• PNG amateur Morgan Annato delivered the low round of the day, 5-under 67, and will start the final round tied for 15th
• Lincoln Tighe’s last win on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia was the 2014 NSW PGA Championship

Lamb and Florimo will start Round 4 in a five-way tie for second, Brisbane’s Gavin Fairfax (68) and Round 1 leader Joel Mitchell (68) drawing to within one of the lead with two of the better rounds in hot conditions on Saturday.

It has been 11 years since Tighe claimed the NSW PGA Championship at Riverside Oaks in north-west Sydney, the 35-year-old eager to make the most of his latest opportunity.

“It would mean a lot at the moment,” said Tighe, who was top three three times during the 2022-2023 season.

“Last year, I sort of had new things in my life. I had my little boy come along. It’s been great to have him and support my wife, and she supports me when I’m away so a win would be great.

“I’ve been in this position a fair few times. Learning from those things and sort of channelling back to my win at New South Wales PGA.

“If I can do that, I’ll be around the mark.”

While renowned as one of the longest hitters on tour, it was Tighe’s putter that played a critical role both early and late in his round.

He rolled in a 20-footer for birdie at the par-3 second and then holed a putt from just outside 20 feet for par after finding the narrow hazard with his tee shot at the par-4 18th.

“I hit a really good drive down there. I hit one 15 metres out yesterday, and I thought that was the exact same drive,” said Tighe.

“If you don’t get the bounce – which I didn’t – obviously it went in the half-a-foot hazard, which was a bit tough. But to get up-and-down, that was great.

“I didn’t know where I was coming. I just sort of tried to keep my head down and keep going. So to make that putt was great.”

The trio of consecutive par 5s from the eighth hole again played an important role in reshaping the leaderboard on Saturday.

Tighe birdied two of the three, Fairfax birdied all three as part of a five-hole birdie blitz while Mitchell bounced back from back-to-back bogeys at six and seven with consecutive eagles at eight and nine.

Playing in his seventh national championship, Morgan Annato will have the support of the PNG crowd on Sunday as he seeks to better his previous best finish, a tie for 38th in 2023.

Winners on tour last season, Jordan Doull (68) and Ben Henkel (69) will start the final round just two strokes off the lead alongside Andrew Campbell in a tie for sixth, Jack Munro (71) and Jake McLeod (69) tied for ninth at 6-under.

Saturday also saw the historic first round of the inaugural PNG Women’s Open, Coffs Harbour’s Amelia Mehmet-Grohn (73) one stroke clear of Western Australian Kathryn Norris with Kristalle Blum, Elmay Viking and PNG amateur Margaret Lavaki tied for third.