Westwood & Poulter lead into last day

Ian Poulter posted a round of four-under 68 to move into a share of the lead at 13-under 203 after 54 holes of the Scandinavian Masters Saturday. Poulter joins Lee Westwood who shot a round of 69 after firing two consecutive rounds of 67.

The European Tour rookie of the year was flawless with four birdies and no bogeys and with a victory, Poulter would move from 20th into the top-10 in the Ryder Cup points standings.

"I'm not fazed at all," Poulter said. "I never get nervous. I can relax every night with the guys and it will be no different tonight. I'm here to do a job and it doesn't matter who I play with."

Westwood had four birdies on his round, including a 15-foot putt on the final hole, but a bogey on the par-four 13th kept him from taking the lead outright. The defending champion, who has missed four of his last six cuts, is seeking his first title of the year.

"It was a nice way to finish," said Westwood. "It's important to be in the last group because you can see what everyone is doing. You can see what's going on in front of you and I'm a great believer in watching scoreboards."

Scotland's Colin Montgomerie and Peter Hedblom of Sweden are one shot off the lead at 12-under 204. Hedblom, who has only won once on the European tour, provided excitement for the home crowds by taking an early lead after a surge of birdies.

Hedblom had a two-shot lead after making five birdies in six holes from the second before making his first mistake of the day. His tee shot on the par- four ninth found the deep rough and his approach was no better as he found a green-side bunker. The Swede failed to get up and down to save par and dropped his first shot of the day with a bogey five.

That moved him to 12-under par where he would remain after a birdie on the 12th was cancelled by a bogey on the following hole.

Montgomerie played a flawless round with a string of pars and three birdies, the last of which came as the result of a 42-foot putt on the final green to give him a round of 69.

Paul Lawrie, the 1999 British Open champion, was two shots off the lead at 11-under 205 after firing a 65 for the low score of the day.

Warren Bennett, last week's runner-up at the Dutch Open, joins Thomas Levet and Darren Clarke at 10-under 206.

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