BALLANTINE'S CHAMPIONSHIP RELATED STORIES Ballantine's Championship home page Ballantine's Championship Preview Round 1: Ilonen and Carolan lead the way on 67 Round 2: McDowell heads Jeev for clubhouse lead Round 2: McDowell leads Jeev by two at halfway Round 3: Jeev and McDowell build four shot lead Round 4: McDowell downs Jeev in playoff Final Scores & Prize Money Order of Merit after the Ballantine's Ch'ship About the Pinx Golf Club course Choi is out to impress on home soil Local hero Yang looking for strong support Harrington expects strong Korean challenge Prom looking for repeat of Korean success Wind will play a big role in Jeju, says Ho Choi predicts big impact on Korean golf Asia and Europe's finest to face off at Ballantine's Revamped Pinx course to challenge world's best Yang and DiMarco line up for Ballantine's Ballantine's boost for golf in Korea "Awesome experience" awaits Anthony Kim in Korea Kim Young Kyu to face reality of Tour golf Stellar field for Ballantine's Korea to include Choi AT schedule boosted by Korean and Indian events Full details of the Pinx Golf Club in Jeju ASIAN GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Bae clinches home win Tanihara takes Panasonic title Su Dong's lead cut to two Hole-in-One Jeev shares the lead Korea, Philippines, Italy for World Cup Lu wins record 4th Taiwan Masters Aussie PGA rethinks 'One Asia' GOLF TODAY TOP STORIES Fred Couples to enlist some unusual help Paula Creamer seeking another home town win Jay Haas on brink of another senior money title Justin Leonard looking to break Texas Open record Father & Son event sign up with Sky Sports

Jeev and McDowell build four shot lead

India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who started the day two strokes behind overnight leader Graeme McDowell of Northern Ireland, fired a blistering eight-under-par 64 to set up a titanic clash between Asia’s and Europe’s best when the inaugural Ballantine’s Championship heads into the final round on Sunday.

McDowell appeared to be running away with the lead again but the fragility of his swing on the closing 18th led to a costly double-bogey and he eventually had to settle for a share of the lead with Singh on 18-under-par 198.

Ryder Cup star, Paul McGinley of Ireland meanwhile, played another steady round of golf with scores of 68, 67 and 67 for a three day total of 202 to pile on the pressure the joint leaders after finishing in third position.

A closing birdie left Sweden’s Johan Edfors a stroke further back on 203 in fourth position while Australia’s Kane Webber and reigning British Open champion Padraig Harrington are tied for fifth on 204 at the US$2.9 million event sanctioned by the Asian Tour, European Tour and Korean PGA.

Overnight leader, McDowell came out of the blocks at a scorching pace, when he birdied the first two holes, eagled the fourth and continued with another two birdies on the eighth and ninth holes before reaching the turn in 30.

“I thought I might have a good chance to put the tournament sort of in my hands after coming through with a six-under par in the front nine, but then Jeev ran off with five birdies after the turn,” said McDowell.

McDowell continued to match Singh stroke for stroke after the turn but had to contend with the disappointment of dropping two shots for a double bogey at the closing 18th.

“I’m obviously very disappointed with my finish. I tried to cut a little five-iron in there but double-crossed it and made it in six,” said McDowell.

“But I mean, the way I look at it, I knew Jeev and I were going to have a little bit of tussle tomorrow at some point.”

Despite having to nurse a nagging flu bug, Singh turned on a sterling performance, firing a total of nine birdies against a lone bogey to finish with the day’s best score of 64 at the Pinx Golf Club.

“McDowell played really well, too, today except he had a little bad luck on the last. But I think we brought the best out of each other on the golf course,” said Singh.

“He made a lot of birdies on the start and I came back and also made a few birdies. I think it was a good game out there today,” said the 2006 Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, who was also presented with a bottle of Ballantine’s 21 Year Old for finishing with the day’s lowest score.

“I had a good round today and whoever handles himself better tomorrow will win. But for now, I'm happy with my position,” added Singh.

Ireland’s McGinley will have to continue to keep pace with the leaders despite playing some of his best golf this week.

“The standard on the Tours now is just unbelievably strong. It's incredible, really incredible. The scoring and the cuts are much lower than you think and it's just so difficult to win on Tour now,” said McGinley.

“I need to play better tomorrow and all I'm concerned about is me, Paul McGinley, and if I play better, you never know what might happen.”

Pre-tournament favourite Choi Kyung-ju of Korea finished on 209 for a share of 17th position while Chris DiMarco of the US slipped down seven spots to tied-19th on 210.

Ends.

Leading third round scores (click here for full leaderboard):

198 - Graeme Mcdowell (NIR) 68-64-66;Jeev Milkha Singh (IND) 68-66-64
202 - Paul Mcginley (IRL) 68-67-67
203 - Johan Edfors (SWE) 69-65-69
204 - Kane Webber (AUS) 71-68-65;Padraig Harrington (IRL) 71-65-68
205 - Ariel Canete (ARG) 70-68-67;Anthony Kim (USA) 68-68-69
206 - Oliver Wilson (ENG) 70-69-67;Shingo Katayama (JPN) 68-70-68;Mikko Ilonen (FIN) 67-70-69;Thomas Bjorn (DEN) 70-66-70
207 - Thaworn Wiratchant (THA) 69-70-68

Selected scores:

209 - K. J. Choi (KOR) 71-69-69; Kim Hyung-Tae (KOR) 69-66-74
210 - Anthony Kang (USA) 70-71-69;Jyoti Randhawa (IND) 68-72-70;Prayad Marksaeng (THA) 68-71-71;Chris Dimarco (USA) 70-68-72

March 15, 2008