Brett Rumford is going to back-to-back wins on the European Tour. Picture courtesy Gety Images Damien McGrane’s hopes of repeating his 2008 Volvo China Open victory suffered a definitive blow when he carded a one over 73 in the third round at Binhai Lake.

The 42-year old had putted brilliantly for a 66 on Friday but the blade was cold again in round three as he took 31 putts on the greens and fell eight srokes behind leader Brett Rumford on four under par.

The Australian, winner of last week’s Ballantine’s Championship in Korea, is bidding to become the first player since defending champion Branden Grace to win back-to-back titles on the European Tour.

Rumford (69) caught overnight leader Mikko Ilonen (73) courtesy of a trio of successive birdies from the sixth hole, and it was pars all the way on the back nine for both men until the Finn bogeyed the last, having found a water hazard from the tee.

“That was a tough day,” said Rumford, who is a shot ahead of Ilonen on 12 under. “I really started to feel things on the back nine.

“I did really well to hang in nicely with some tired golf swings, I mentally stayed with it. Physically not so much, but mentally I hung in there.

“The wind was really starting to dry things, out so you’ve got to be very precise on this course. You perhaps don’t pick up on it on the TV, but there are a lot of chip shots that run back into the grain on a very, very tight surface, so you’ve got to be very accurate with it.

“I was fortunate enough to make some good up and downs today, which really kept the round going because it could so easily have got away from me.”

McGrane picked up two early birdies but bogeyed the eighth, 12th and 17th to slip eight strokes off the pace on four under.

204 B Rumford (Aus) 68 67 69,

205 M Ilonen  (Fin) 69 63 73,

206 P Larrazábal (Esp) 71 66 69,

207 K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 68 67 72,

208 J Luiten (Ned) 73 67 68,

209 V Dubuisson  (Fra) 71 72 66, R Derksen (Ned) 66 70 73,

210 P Sang-Hyun (Kor) 69 70 71, R Santos  (Por) 70 72 68,

211 T Björn (Den) 70 73 68, M Baldwin (Eng) 70 71 70, S Webster (Eng) 73 67 71, R Gonzalez (Arg) 73 71 67, P Lawrie (Sco) 69 72 70, L Slattery (Eng) 69 68 74, P Casey  (Eng) 71 68 72,

212 D McGrane (Irl) 73 66 73, R Ramsay  (Sco) 71 68 73, S Gallacher (Sco) 70 71 71, F Aguilar (Chi) 71 73 68, G Storm  (Eng) 70 68 74,

213 A Hartø  (Den) 72 71 70, J Hansen  (Den) 73 69 71, P Waring  (Eng) 72 68 73, T Fleetwood  (Eng) 71 70 72, G Havret  (Fra) 72 70 71, S Hansen (Den) 72 69 72, A Townsend (Aus) 69 70 74, B Grace  (RSA) 74 67 72,

214 J Singh (Ind) 72 69 73, A Noren  (Swe) 70 73 71, M Foster (Eng) 70 69 75, S Kjeldsen (Den) 72 68 74, A Sullivan (Eng) 74 68 72, D Ze-Cheng (Chn) 70 72 72, E Grillo (Arg) 73 71 70, M Griffin (Aus) 70 68 76, R Cabrera-Bello (Esp) 72 70 72,

215 J Edfors (Swe) 73 69 73, A Byeong-Hun (Kor) 73 68 74, R Jacquelin (Fra) 68 72 75, M Brier (Aut) 71 71 73, M Lampert (Ger) 72 72 71, G Bhullar (Ind) 74 69 72, J Sjöholm (Swe) 74 65 76, P Whiteford (Sco) 73 69 73, L Hyung-Joon (Kor) 70 70 75,

216 E Molinari  (Ita) 75 68 73, R Finch  (Eng) 71 70 75, C Lloyd (Eng) 71 72 73, M Carlsson  (Swe) 71 73 72, K Broberg (Swe) 74 67 75, T Pilkadaris (Aus) 69 73 74, M Hendry (Nzl) 74 67 75,

217 F Zanotti (Par) 71 69 77, P Price (Wal) 76 68 73,

218 E Pepperell (Eng) 75 68 75, R Bland (Eng) 72 71 75, E Goya (Arg) 70 74 74, G Sapp (USA) 70 74 74,

219 N Fasth (Swe) 73 68 78, N Cullen (Aus) 72 69 78, L Wen-Chong (Chn) 74 70 75,

220 P Meesawat  (Tha) 76 68 76, A Dodt (Aus) 72 71 77,

221 S Jamieson  (Sco) 73 71 77,

223 H Wen-Yi (Chn) 74 69 80,

** D Howell (Eng) 74 68 DQ.