ASH, England -- Christian Cevaer of France made a 12-foot birdie putt on his last hole Saturday to share the Europen Open lead with Jeev Milkha Singh of India.

Cevaer's birdie, only the second on the wind-swept final green in the third round, gave him a 70 that put him at 9-under 207. Singh, the overnight leader, made birdies at four of the last six holes for a 71 after struggling with five bogeys on the first 11.

Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland finished strongly for a 68 that gave him a share of third place with Chris Wood (68) of England and Alvaro Quiros (69) of Spain at 6-under 210.

Cevear set up his final birdie with a strong approach after a perfect drive.

"It's a great feeling when those shots come off like that, perfect," said Cevaer, who had three birdies and one bogey in his round. "I'm happy to be swinging well and I enjoyed it very much."

Singh struggled through the early holes in the breezy conditions on a course with deep rough.

"It's almost a U.S. Open setup," he said. "At the fourth hole I was in deep rough with a lob wedge in my hand, and moved the ball just six inches."

But he birdied the 13th after a fine drive, the 14th with a 20-foot putt and the long 15th with a chip to three feet. Then he saved his best shot of the day for the 225-yard 17th.

"It was a 3-iron cut against the breeze," he said. "Then I made a 15-footer" for the birdie.

McIlroy had three birdies and an eagle over the first 13 holes, bogeyed the 14th but finished strongly with four straight pars.

"You have to make your score on the front nine with four of the first holes playing downwind. Then you hang on," he said.

Sergio Garcia was one of many to make a triple-bogey 7 at the last hole, finishing with a 74 for a share of 47th.

Pablo Larrazabal (79) of Spain was in last place after taking a 9 on the par-3 17th. His tee shot landed in a bush and he had two penalty drops and a whiff left-handed before holing a 9-footer.

"It was a good nine," he said.

McIlroy, golf's most gifted 20-year-old, went off to watch the final of "Britain's Got Talent" on Saturday night after giving himself another chance for his second European Tour victory.

As strong winds caused mayhem again at the London Club, McIlroy produced a superb 68 to charge from 25th place overnight up into his tie for third.

And Chris Wood, the 21-year-old from Bristol who as an amateur finished a spectacular fifth in the British Open last July, made the exact same move as he continued his bid for a maiden Tour win.

No fewer than nine players held at least a share of the lead during a third round littered with high scores, but at the end of it Cevaer, 449th in the world, and Singh were three clear of the chasing pack.

They shot 70 and 71 respectively, Cevaer making one of only two birdies all day on the 471-yard last. The 69-strong field were a cumulative 76 over par there.

Singh, joint halfway leader with Cevaer's compatriot Michael Lorenzo-Vera, covered the last six in a quite brilliant 4 under and as the world No. 39 is probably favorite now to take the win.

McIlroy, who shot a 65 at Wentworth last Saturday before slipping back to fifth in the final round, revealed he has "a little niggle" in his lower back. But he said: "I had a really nice bath last night, got into bed and watched the golf in the States."

When reminded about the "Talent" final, however, the Dubai Desert Classic champion replied: "I'm a bit of a golf geek to be honest, but that might edge it tonight."

To demonstrate the strength of the wind, he reduced the 541-yard fifth to a drive and 118-yard sand wedge, while on the 16th his 153-yard 7-iron came up 30 yards short.

Wood turned professional straight after his Birkdale heroics and led in his professional debut in Sweden, but then caught food poisoning and fell away.

He has not dropped a shot on the fearsome 471-yard 18th yet and said: "I'm not thinking about winning yet. I've just got to keep doing the same that I've been doing mentally this week.

"It's taken me a while to get going this season," he added. "Coming through Tour school I didn't get into that many events and those I did I was practicing in snow and ice at home and then going out to Indonesia or wherever."

The wind is far more used to from his amateur days -- and the same is true of McIlroy, of course.

Earlier, Stephen Dodd mixed eight birdies with six bogeys in a real roller-coaster ride 24 hours after driving all the way from Kent to Wales thinking he had missed the halfway cut.

The 42-year-old former World Cup winner was not alone in that, though. Lee Westwood was between Cambridge and Peterborough in his new Jaguar when he was contacted and told he was back in the tournament.

"I increased my carbon footprint," said the Ryder Cup star after a disappointing third-round 74. "I got a call -- but I wish I hadn't!"

All those who finished on 1 over par at lunchtime on Friday looked like missing out on the final two rounds, and even Colin Montgomerie at level par went off to spend the afternoon in London with his children thinking he was out. But a strong afternoon wind sent scores soaring.

"I live the other side of Cardiff and got home about 5:30 p.m.," said Dodd after a 70 for 1 under.

"I watched on television and could tell that one over had a chance. So after it was confirmed I drove back at 9 p.m. and got to the hotel about midnight," he explained. "I've only done it once before in my career, I think -- a long time ago when I drove home from Collingtree Park in Northampton."

Westwood was down to 3 over, while Montgomerie also shot 74 to finish the day 2 over.

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