Yang grabs lead in Euro Tour's China Open

SUZHOU, China, April 17 (UPI) -- Y.E. Yang's bogey-free 4-under-par 68 Saturday lifted him into the lead after three rounds of the European Tour's China Open.

Yang is at 14-under 202 after 54 holes at the Suzhou Jinji Lake Golf Club and is one stroke ahead of Jamie Donaldson, who shot 69 Saturday, and Mikko Ilonen, who turned in a third-round 68. Pablo Larrazabal (70) is alone in fourth at 11-under.

Kim Do-hoon, the leader after the second round, battled through a 1-under 73 Saturday and is tied with Stephen Dodd for fifth. Dodd shot 66 Saturday to jump from 23rd place to contention.

Yang, coming off an eighth-place finish at last week's Masters, had a birdie at the 615-yard, par-5 second hole and pars on the other eight holes of the front nine. He had back-to-back birdies at Nos. 10-11 that put him into a tie for the lead.

He also had a birdie at the 563-yard 14th hole, the third consecutive round he birdied the hole.

"Today was bogey free but it was also tough to save par on a lot of occasions," Yang said. "Overall, it was difficult but I am very satisfied that I saved a lot of pars and it puts me in a good position on the leaderboard. Hopefully I can sustain my performance tomorrow."