TOKYO, September 27, 2014 (AFP) - China's highest ranked golfer, who has three Asian Tour and one European Tour title to his name, beat strong winds to sink four birdies, against two bogeys, on the 7,117-yard Ohtone Country Club course in Ibaraki, northeast of Tokyo.
The 36-year-old stood with a three-round total of five-under-par 208, one shot clear of Japan's Kazuhiro Yamashita.
Three other Japanese, Yoshinobu Tsukada,Yoshitaka Takeya and Yusaku Miyazato, trailed one stroke further back at 210.
Overnight leader Adam Bland of Australia hit a three-over-par 74 and slipped to 211 with seven other players including Thailand's Namchoak Tantipokakul, Australian Scott Strange, Juvic Pagunsan of the Philippines and South Korea's Kim Hyung-Sung and S. K. Ho.
"The winds were very strong today and they can really affect your accuracy especially on this golf course," Liang said.
"I told myself to stay calm and try to avoid the rough as far as possible. They are really thick and you'll be in trouble if the ball lands there."
"Hopefully, I can have my breakthrough in Japan tomorrow," he said. "However, it's still very important to continue to stay focused as you never know what can happen until the last putt."
Leading scores after the third round (Japanese unless noted):
208 - Liang Wenchong (CHN) 70-69-69
209 - Kazuhiro Yamashita 72-69-68
210 - Yoshinobu Tsukada 71-71-68, Yoshitaka Takeya 73-67-70, Yusaku Miyazato 71-73-66
211 - Namchoak Tantipokakul (THA) 68-74-69, Shingo Katayama 71-71-69, Scott Strange (AUS) 70-71-70, Kim Hyung-Sung (KOR) 71-70-70, Juvic Pagunsan (PHI) 69-72-70, Akio Sadakata 69-70-72, S. K. Ho (KOR) 68-70-73, Adam Bland (AUS) 69-68-74
212 - Panuphol Pittayarat (THA) 70-72-70, Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 73-69-70, Jason Knutzon (USA) 71-71-70, Cameron Smith (AUS) 66-74-72, Kim Kyung-Tae (KOR) 71-69-72, Adilson Da Silva (BRA) 73-67-72, Hiroyuki Fujita 68-71-73, I. J. Jang (KOR) 70-69-73, Lee Kyoung-Hoon (KOR) 72-68-72, Baek Seuk-Hyun (KOR) 70-69-73