Australian golfer Matthew Griffin is two shots off the lead going in to the final round of the New Zealand Open in Queenstown.
The Victorian could become the fifth successive Australian winner of the $NZ1.05 million ($A940,523) tournament, which is a tier-one event on the Australasian Tour and and has a partnership with the Japan Golf Tour.
Griffin shot a seven-under-par 65 on Saturday to trail his third-round playing partner Hideto Tanihara by two shots for the overall lead.
Tanihara is on 17-under after a blistering third-round 63, one shot off the course record at The Hills.
The only apparent threat to Tanihara becoming the first Japanese champion at the 109-year-old tournament is Griffin, in outright second.
There are five further shots back to third place, which is shared by New Zealand's Steven Alker, Korean IJ Jang and Japan's Shunsuke Sonoda on 10-under.
US-based Alker, a two-time runner-up, has the only realistic chance of ending a 13-year Kiwi drought since Mahal Pearce claimed the 2003 title in Auckland.
On Saturday, Tanihara's long, straight drives set up three birdies and an eagle on holes 12 to 15.
The 37-year-old, an 11-time winner on the Japan Golf Tour, closed with a birdie on the 18th to open a gap on Griffin.
Griffin, 32, is a two-time winner on both the Australasian and OneAsia Tours.
He was also hot midway through his home stretch, carding an eagle at the par-four 15th hole.
