Dean Burmester’s brilliant back nine saw him bounce right into contention on Saturday as he carded a seven-under-par 65 in the third round of the Asian Tour’s International Series Philippines at Sta Elena Golf Club.

Burmester’s front nine was nothing too impressive, with two birdies and a bogey seeing him turn in one-under-par, but he made six birdies without dropping a shot on his way home as he moved to 14-under-par through 54 holes.

That put him just three strokes off the lead, which was held by halfway leader Sarit Suwannarut of Thailand, Local star Miguel Tabuena and China’s Sampson Zheng at 17-under-par. The trio led by one from Japan’s Yosuke Asaji, while Burmester shared fifth with another Japanese player, Kazuki Higa.

Burmester’s back nine had birdies on 10, 11, 13, 14, 15 and 18 as he raced home in 30 strokes.

Charl Schwartzel added a third round of three-under 69 to his tally, moving him to 10-under and a share of 13th.

Jaco Ahlers carded a level-par 72 to slip to a share of 40th on six-under-par.