Shane Lowry in third place at DP World India Championship

Updated at 14.01

IRELAND’S SHANE Lowry is in third place after the third round of the DP World India Championship on Saturday.

The Offaly golfer registered a second successive 69, having opened with a 64, leaving him on 14 under par.

The 38-year-old is three shots adrift of Japan’s Keita Nakajima, who holds the lead.

English star Tommy Fleetwood is second on 15 under par.

Meanwhile, Rory McIlroy is tied for 15th on 10 under par.

The Holywood native followed up back-to-back 69s with a 68 in round three.

Lowry began well with three birdies in his opening nine holes.

Bogeys on the 10th and 16th were offset by additional birdies on the 15th and 18th.

“I started to hit a few very loose shots, made a few silly mistakes,” Lowry told Sky Sports. “So, I’m disappointed with my back nine.

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“I’d played great on the front nine. I was really in control of my game and how things were going, made a great par save on nine and then missed a short putt on 10.

“It all snowballed, spiralled from there.

“I did my best to get it back on track, and it was nice to birdie the last, but I made a few really silly errors, mental errors.”

McIlroy had a better individual round than Lowry.

The 36-year-old had a bogey on the 11th hole amid an otherwise solid round that included five birdies on the first, sixth, 13th, 14th and 18th.

“I finished the round off pretty well again,” McIlroy said. “Made a couple of birdies coming in.

“I felt like I missed a lot of putts today. I gave myself a lot of chances and felt like I squandered a few.

“I should probably be a few shots better than I am, but another solid day and hopefully a low one tomorrow and post a score and at least give the guys up ahead something to think about.”

Nakajima shot his second 65 of the week to leapfrog Fleetwood and Lowry to take a two-shot cushion into the final round.

Nakajima carded a third round of seven birdies and no bogeys to finish at 17-under-par 199 after earlier rounds of 65 and 69 at Delhi Golf Club.

The world number 134 will play in the final pairing with FedEx Cup champion Fleetwood, after partnering with Lowry on Saturday, and is clearly thriving alongside golf’s finest exponents.

“I love his swing tempo and his golf style, so I learned from Shane a lot,” said Nakajima.

“I’m looking forward to playing with the top players in the world tomorrow. Same mindset, same swing. Yeah, just play golf.”

The inaugural $4 million tournament has attracted a stellar field that includes McIlroy’s Ryder Cup teammate Viktor Hovland, who is tied eighth on 12-under after a 66.

The 2023 British Open champion, Brian Harman, was out in the final pairing with Fleetwood.

But a wayward drive led to a bogey six at the first, and the American stuttered to a 70, which dropped him into a four-way tie for fourth on 13-under.

“One of those days, two really good days to start, then a day where the marginal shots ended up in a bad spot and the good shots aren’t close enough for birdie,” said Harman.

“Proud of the way I hung in there. To get a couple under out of my form today was pretty good.”

Elsewhere, Leona Maguire is tied for 52nd on three under at the BMW Ladies Championship.

After registering 70 and 74 in her opening two rounds, the Cavan star finished round three with a bogey-free 69.

You can read the full DP World India Championship leaderboard here and the BMW Ladies Championship leaderboard here.

Additional reporting by AFP