Louis Dobbelaar is primed for a maiden professional victory in a country where he’s already tasted success.

The 21-year-old Queenslander leads the NZPGA Championship by a shot over Sung Jin Yeo at 17 under par following a nearly flawless three rounds at Gulf Harbour Country Club. Dobbelaar has fired rounds 66, 67, and 66 to poke his nose ahead of local hope Yeo, who is contending in his first-ever ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia event after making his first cut on the tour yesterday.

The pair started moving day with a share of the lead and immediately put a gap between themselves and the chasers after Dobbelaar went out in four under and Yeo remained hot on his heels with three birdies of his own.

Dobbelaar, the 2016 New Zealand Amateur champion, added three more birdies on the 11th, 12th, and 16th holes to lead Yeo by four with two holes to play. Unfortunately, his impressive run of 52 bogey-less holes ended on the par 5 17th while Yeo closed the gap with a birdie. Dobbelaar parred the final hole, but as Yeo added another birdie to his scorecard, the margin became one with one round to play.

The Queenslander is proud of his week so far and says a victory tomorrow would be the cherry on top of a special week, especially with his dad flying over the ditch to see his son in action.

“It’d be awesome [to win]. I’m just going to take it one step at a time and keep trying to make birdies; we’ll see what happens after that.

“I haven’t had a win as a professional, so to get one would be nice.”

It will take something special to stop Dobbelaar who has only made one bogey all week.

“I think it is [a record]. I’m pretty gutted to make bogey there, but in saying that I was trying to go for it and make a couple of more birdies coming in. I’m pretty gutted but I’ve been playing some really nice golf, so that’s cool.”

Also chasing the biggest victory of his young career is Yeo, who is turning heads of his own. He’s unbelievably made 22 birdies and an eagle through three rounds and is looking to add to his tally tomorrow after insisting nothing will change.

He’s proud of his play but has one more hurdle to overcome tomorrow, which he’s looking forward to.

“I’m really pleased with the good scoring in the tough windy conditions.

“It will be an honour to win this event. Tomorrow I’ll be thinking about playing my own game and style and nothing else.”

Joining the pair in the final group is Jordan Loof who is in a hot stretch of form himself.

He’s recently won his maiden Jennian Homes Charles Tour event in the Manawatu and Monday qualified for the New Zealand Open.

Loof is riding a wave of momentum and is looking for another low round to catch the leaders.

He says keeping his attitude in check has been the secret to his success, and he is looking for much of the same tomorrow morning.

“A lot of it is perspective. I got married in January and I’ve had two wins and Monday qualified for the New Zealand Open since. We’ve also got some exciting life events coming up; we’re thinking of moving overseas which is really exciting.

“I’m just keeping things as simple as I can and managing my attitude well. That’ll be the key to chasing down the leaders.”

Play gets underway tomorrow morning at 9 o’clock, with the leaders teeing off at 10.50.