ASH, England -- Ross Fisher birdied the last hole to take a three-stroke lead Saturday after the third round of the $4.8 million European Open.

The Englishman's 6-footer for birdie completed a 3-under 69 for a 54-hole total of 200.

Graeme McDowell shot a 71 for 203, including a bogey at the last hole.

South African David Frost also shot 69 on a windy afternoon to hold third place at 206, with Michael Jonzon (71), Paul McGinley (71) and Soren Hansen (72) sharing fourth at 208.

Fisher's drive at the 471-yard 18th just cleared the lake on the left that McDowell hit into. Fisher's 9-iron finished 6 feet from the pin and he made the only birdie of the day on that hole by sinking the putt.

McDowell took a penalty and hit his third into a greenside bunker on the way to a 5.

"It's always nice to finish the day on a good note and it is rewarding to shoot 3 under when I was 2 over after seven holes," Fisher said. "I told myself to stay with it, stay patient."

Fisher birdied the next two and eagled the downwind par-5 15th with a huge drive and a pitching wedge to 145 feet.

McDowell also eagled 15 and was tied with Fisher at that point, but he bogeyed the 16th and 18th.

"I'm obviously disappointed with my finish but Ross and I had a lot of fun out there," McDowell said. "I had a simple up and down on 16 that I made a mess of. ... Things can turn around out there very quickly when the wind is blowing like that."

Frost, who is 48, credited his 69 to experience.

"You just want to try to keep hitting fairways and the right side of the greens," said Frost, whose only bogey came at the 18th, when he found the deep pot bunker in front of the green. "If you had told me I'd only have one bogey in this wind, I'd have taken it."

McGinley was content with his 71 in the conditions.

"A 71 is good in this wind. I've had my foot to the ground for three days. I've had three good scores," McGinley said. "A 71 is a good score this afternoon but I've made no ground on the leaders -- in fact, I've lost ground."

McGinley is among some six players with a chance of taking the one spot available in the British Open in 11 days with a top-5 finish. Others with the same chance are Frost, Jonzon, Jeev Milka Singh, Stephen Gallacher and Rory McIlroy, who shot 72 and shares 10th place.

Sergio Garcia slipped to a 74 and dropped from third to a tie for seventh.

Colin Montgomerie bogeyed the last three holes for a 73 and is tied for 10th.

Fisher's birdie was the only one all day on the 471-yard 18th hole, which had wreaked havoc with Colin Montgomerie, Padraig Harrington and Justin Rose among its victims.

Earlier in the week, Fisher thought about not playing, so tired was he after successfully coming through 36 holes of British Open qualifying on Monday.

He is certainly glad now he carried on and he has a golden opportunity for his second Tour win eight months after blowing the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai with a closing double-bogey 7 -- and 14 months after finishing the BMW PGA Championship on his home course with an 84 when he was the joint leader overnight.

Garcia, favorite for the title when he played the first six holes in 1 under, came home in 39. That included a double-bogey 6 on the 13th when he was put off by a photographer on the tee and shanked into knee-high rough.

Defending champion Montgomerie came to the last three holes 9 under, but bogeyed them all to slide to joint 10th nine strokes back. After a drive into deep rough on the 16th the Scot, runner-up in France last Sunday and so keen to build on that to improve his Ryder Cup chances if nothing more, failed to get up and down from over the green on the short 17th and then pulled his drive into the lake on the last.

"I'm not the story. I think you'll find I'm not the story," he said afterward, having first of all thrown his ball into a trsh can. A big finish could still make it another good week in his comeback.

Ian Poulter is back in the pack on 2 under after a 77. The damage was done in a front-nine 41 that began with him suddenly remembering he had not bandaged the wrist he has been been protecting since pulling out of the U.S. Open three weeks ago.

A physio came out on the course, but he called it "a schoolboy error," adding, "I completely and utterly forgot." He did not blame the wrist for his poor day, though.

"It's hard to make birdies when it's 30mph and with pins tucked away you can only hit to 30 feet," he explained. "When we got it wrong it was wrong and when we got it right it was wrong. Tough day at the office -- they happen."

British Open champion Harrington, having made the cut with only a shot to spare, improved from 33rd to 14th with an eventful 69.

Out in 31 and on the leaderboard at one point, he bogeyed three of the next five, had a second eagle on the day on the 548-yard 15th, but then drove into the lake at the last for a closing bogey. But the Dubliner was quick to take the positives out of the day.

"The game is in far better shape than at any stage last year," he said. "This is a good fore-runner for the Open -- as close to links golf as a parkland course is going to get."

Rose, last season's European No. 1, is left with only a confidence-building exercise in the last round after slumping to joint 60th of the 70 players with a 77. That was completed with a triple-bogey 7 on the last, Rose compounding the error of his drive into the water with a fluffed chip into the bunker short of the green.

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