Championships made more of an advance yesterday than Andrew Trott, who grabbed hold of the leadership with an even-par-71 at Port Royal.

Trott took full advantage of a second consecutive disappointing effort by first and second round leader Dwayne Pearman, who followed Wednesday's 75 with another mediocre round of 74 yesterday.

Pearman is the defending champion and was a frequent winner of the PGA tournament through the 1990s.

Trott's even-par score moved him into a one-stroke lead with a three-round total of 222, compared to 223 for Pearman, while home course pro, veteran Frankie Rabain, and Keith Smith both stand locked together in third on 241, after carding identical third round scores of 82.

The final round gets underway this morning.