VIRGINIA WATER, England (AP) -- Paul Casey missed four-foot birdie chances on the last two holes but still shot 67 Saturday to stretch his lead to three strokes in the third round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Casey was virtually flawless through 16 holes with five birdies and no dropped shots but missed the two short putts on 17 and 18 in the biggest non-major on the European Tour schedule.

"They felt like two bogeys," Casey said. "They were beyond my control. On 18 I tried to hit it firm in the middle. And it was heading firmly in the middle."

Then it veered off.

Casey had a 54-hole total of 203, 13 under par.

Soren Kjeldsen holed a 25-foot putt from across the green at the last to move into second place after a 68 for 206, while Northern Ireland prodigy Rory McIlroy fired the best round of the week, a 7-under 65, to take third another shot behind.

McIlroy started the round tied 19th but said he was able to draw and fade the ball at will in what was one of the best rounds of his career.

Casey, who has already won in Abu Dhabi and Houston to climb to No. 7 in the rankings this year, watched this championship when he was a boy and it is one of his ambitions to win it. He won the World Match Play on this course in 2006.

"The great players have their names etched on this trophy. For me it would be nice to get my name on that Roll of Honor. For me, that's the biggest thing."

His 67 was more consistent than his 67 Friday, which included two eagles and three bogeys in it.

"This was more satisfying because there were no dropped shots although yesterday had the fireworks," he said. "I've battled the swing a little bit and I hit a couple of poor shots. I won't say I've got total control of the golf ball right now."

"I can hook and slice the ball at will," he added in reference to McIlroy's comments.

After his round of 65, McIlroy was pleased to have recovered his poise on the course.

"Today I had a really good session on the range, then every shot I hit was the shot that I'd seen," McIlroy said. "I was able to see fades and draws and hit them where I wanted to. It was nice to be able to do that again."

Colin Montgomerie was in contention at the start of his round when he birdied five of the first 12 holes. But he bogeyed 13, 15 and 16 and settled for a 69.

"That was not decent at all, really. I was very disappointed to bogey 13, I missed a short putt for birdie on 14 and bogeyed the next two. So it was like four bogeys in a row. Then I made a mess of the last," said the Scot, who won this title three consecutive times starting in 1998.

"I had a good chance to get into real contention, but not now. To throw it away is very disappointing."

Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved.