Young Australian Zach Murray, who went out in the morning and hit an eight under 63 at Millbrook, had looked set to be the overnight leader.
But late in the day, first Japanese golfer Ryuko Tokimatsu came home hard at The Hills to finish tied with Murray.
However, New Zealander Harry Bateman had the last say. Playing in the final group of the day he went five under in his last five holes at The Hills to join the tie for the lead.
Bateman's comeback was a real rags-to-riches story, after he started with two bogeys in the first two holes.
Bateman (28), from Masterton, said it was one of the weirdest rounds he had ever had.
"I topped it off the first tee and made bogey there, then made bogey on the next. So I just got stuck in after that. I got it back to par and just lit it up in the last few holes," he said.
"I got a lot of good breaks out there. You just try to put that away [after the bad start] and something you get better at with age."
He said the fine conditions at the end let the ball fly and helped his game.
He hit an eagle on the 17th to get handy and then put in a nice 3m putt on the last to take a share of the lead.
Tokimatsu started like a house on fire at The Hills, scoring five birdies in his first nine, and came home well too, notching birdies at his last two holes.
The wind was rather benign on a chilly day on both courses. But the golfers still found the conditions to their liking as two-thirds of the field made par or better.
Japanese golfer Kodai Ichihara is alone in fourth place after hitting a six under 66 at The Hills.
It was a special day for Murray (21) with his father Craig celebrating his 54th birthday.
"He messaged me last night, saying a 65 would be nice, considering he was born in 1965. But I shaved a couple of years off him with a 63," Murray said.
He shot 61 as an amateur but yesterday was his lowest round as a professional.
He admitted the chilly weather in the morning did not agree with him.
"I went out to warm-up and hit about five balls and thought I'm not going to get warm, so I went and sat back into the pro shop - waited for the sun to come out and go and hit a couple of putts.
"My motto this week was to stay patient. But you don't need to show patience when the putts are going in.
"It was pretty steady. I did not miss many fairways and I don't think I missed a green. It was pretty straightforward and everything just went well. Sometimes those rounds just pop up at the right time."
Ryan Fox shrugged off the effects of jet lag to notch a three under 68 at Millbrook.
"The score was OK. I did not feel like I played overly well but I kept it out of trouble for most of the time," he said.
"Probably playing in the cold did not help. I haven't been that cold on a golf course for a while.
"I felt pretty good on the golf course ... was pretty alert and it helped with Steve [Williams] on the bag. I have probably had jet lag in the past six weeks in a row."
