SHENZHEN, China — Lee Westwood made 11 birdies to shoot a 61 Saturday and grab a share of the lead with struggling Louis Oosthuizen after the third round of the HSBC Champions. Oosthuizen, the 2010 British Open champion, came into the weekend with a five-stroke lead over the field, but struggled with his putting and carded a 70. The South African had a chance to retake the lead with a 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole, but missed by inches the last of many near misses throughout the day. Westwood and Oosthuizen are level at 18-under going into Sunday, three shots ahead of Phil Mickelson, who made seven birdies en route to a 66. Ernie Els briefly surged into a share of the lead on the back nine before dumping his ball into a reservoir on the tricky 15th hole and taking a double bogey. He shot a 69 to drop to fourth place, level with Bill Haas (66) and Ian Poulter (65). It was the second time in three weeks Westwood shot a 61 — he also had one to beat Charl Schwartzel in the semifinals of the World Golf Final exhibition in Turkey in mid-October. But as good as his score was Saturday, it wasn't even the low round of the day. That belonged to American Brandt Snedeker, who had a chance to shoot golf's magical 59 but missed a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 18th hole. He finished with a 60, a new course record. Starting the day back in 12th place, Westwood began his assault on the leaderboard with three consecutive birdies on the first three holes Saturday. He then birdied the fifth and seventh holes and sunk a 10-foot putt for another birdie on the 573-yard par-5 ninth hole to make the turn at 13 under, four strokes back. The Englishman kept up the pressure on the back nine, closing his round with four more birdies to catch Oosthuizen and Els. Lee leads at Mizuno In Japan, South Korea's Lee Bo-mee shot an 8-under 64 Saturday to take a four-stroke lead after two rounds of the Mizuno Classic. Lee, a regular on the Korean tour, recorded four birdies on the front nine at Kintetsu Kashikojima Country Club and added four more after the turn to finish at 10-under 134. Second-placed Japan's Rikako Morita, who briefly held the lead after an eagle on the par-5 13th, bogeyed three of the final five holes for a 68. Defending champion Momoko Ueda shot a 69 and was tied for ninth. South Korea's Inbee Park, who opened the LPGA Tour's Asian swing with a victory in Malaysia and finished second last week in Taiwan, struggled with the wind and shot a 73 to be tied for 23rd. — Agencies
