Wilson edges ahead in Hong Kong

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Oliver Wilson maintained his quest for a maiden European Tour win by edging ahead of the field after the third round of the Hong Kong Open Saturday, while Bernhard Langer rolled back the years with a brilliant round.

Briton Wilson, looking for his first professional victory after a string of second-place finishes including the recent HSBC Champions in Shanghai, had a shaky start but finished at 13-under with a round of 65 as his putting gained in confidence.

"You feel like you're sort of losing ground all the time around here, but you've just got to be patient," Wilson told reporters after adding six birdies to his opening hole bogey.

"If I can keep getting up there, I'll break through eventually," the Englishman said of his prospect of a maiden win.

Lin Wen-tang of Taiwan birdied the last two holes to stand one off the pace at 12 under, while German veteran Langer was a further shot back after a superb round of 63.

Jeev Milkha Singh of India, Spain's Pablo Larrazabal, Briton Rory McIlroy and Francesco Molinari of Italy were grouped on 10 under, while Scotland's Colin Montgomerie was within striking distance at nine under for the $2.5 million (1.68 million pound) co-sanctioned event.

GERMAN MASTERCLASS

The day, however, belonged to Langer, the two-time U.S. Masters winner showing his class with a standout round that included a chip-in eagle on the seventh to put him in position to become the oldest winner on both the European and Asian Tours.

The 51-year-old, who won the tournament in 1991, also showed supreme composure on the greens and nailed a string of long putts to card four successive birdies over the back nine.

"This course kind of suits me because it's not that long, I'm not a long hitter so it's more about precision and being straight and maneuvering the ball a little bit," Langer said.

The European Tour's oldest winner is Des Smyth, who won the 2001 Madeira Island Open at 48, while Choi Sang-ho holds the same record for the Asian Tour, the Korean winning the Maekyung Open aged 50 in 2006.

Langer won four times on the Champions Tour over the past year, though his last major European title was the 2002 Volvo Masters, which he shared with Colin Montgomerie.

While many players struggled on the front nine, Spain's Larrazabal had a solid opening, carding a rare eagle on the challenging par-five third.

2005 champion Colin Montgomerie scuffed the opening hole with a double-bogey but he played his way out of trouble on the ninth, blasting his second shot around 200 yards out of the rough before chipping to within an inch of the hole in a narrow eagle miss.

Four players had shared the lead going into the third round, Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa, Wilson and Oliver Fisher of England and Chawalit Plaphol of Thailand at eight under par.

But of these, only Wilson managed to build on his strong position, as Oosthuizen plunged to 25th place after carding a three-over 73.

Defending champion, Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez had a frustrating round, finishing the day at one over par, leaving him well out of contention.

(Editing by John O'Brien)