Josh Geary is a round away from tying Michael Hendry as the most prolific winner on the Jennian Homes Charles Tour.

The 38-year-old Bay of Plenty professional has established a sizable nine-shot lead at the Carrus Tauranga Open after three rounds, finishing 16-under-par after shooting 63, 67, and 64 in challenging conditions that saw winds gust upwards of 35 kilometres an hour again.

Josh went bogey-free during a day that saw many players move backwards. He opened with four pars before making back-to-back birdies on five and six, and added another at the tenth to go out in three-under.

He kept his ball on the straight and narrow, taking advantage of the par 5 13th, birdieing at the 15th, and closing out in style with a birdie on the 18th, after his pitch shot danced around the hole.

He says it’d mean a lot to win his fourth Carrus Tauranga Open and eighth Jennian Homes Charles Tour title.

“Winning anything is getting really hard these days. The kids are getting better and better – so it’d mean the world to tie that record of Mike’s. Hopefully, he can bounce back and get healthy again so we can fight for a few more.”

Josh has admittedly struggled after a four-month break from competition. However, you would not have been able to tell during Saturday’s third round as he had his ball on a string.

“It was definitely a lot better today. I hit some good shots over the first couple of rounds, but I didn’t have any good feels happening, whereas today, it felt a lot better. I seem to focus a bit more under a bit of pressure, which probably gave me a heightened sense of where things are at. It’s slowly coming back."

He holds a gargantuan nine-stroke lead heading into today’s final round, and says the secret to getting the job done is the same as what he’s being doing over the first three days – staying patient and taking advantage of his opportunities when they’re presented.

“Tauranga has the appearance that it should be easy, and you should be making a lot of birdies. I guess my experience of knowing not to fire at too many flags in some of the tougher winds, making your pars on the tough holes, and just keeping the easy holes really tidy.

“Staying patient is key as there are a lot of chances if you don’t get too carried away.”

Josh will play alongside Tyler Hodge and Golf New Zealand National Academy member Joshua Bai.

Local Bay of Plenty representative Hunter Edwards is the leading woman, sharing 25th at one-over-par.

Play gets underway this morning at 8.30am, with the leaders teeing off at 10am.