Graeme McDowell double bogeyed the 18th to allow Jeev Milkha Singh claim a share of the lead entering the final round of the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea.

The Ulsterman, 28, hit a wild approach and finished with a double-bogey six for a six-under 66 that left him sharing top spot with the Indian on 18-under par at Pinx GC on Jeju Island.

Singh fired a sparkling 64 in calm conditions on the honeymoon island following two days of gusting winds.

Ireland's Paul McGinley carded a 67 to claim third position four strokes off the pace with Open champion Padraig Harrington six off the lead after a 68.

Resplendent in a pair of bright pink trousers, McDowell continued his red-hot form as he tore up the front nine in 30 shots.

Four birdies and an eagle on the par-five fourth, where he sank a 20-foot left-to-right putt, put him firmly in the driving seat with only Singh posing a serious threat

The Indian rattled off five successive birdies from the seventh and kept the pressure on McDowell as the two men went toe to toe in an absorbing duel.

McDowell claimed further birdies at 12 and 16 before overcooking his approach to the 18th and having to drop for a penalty stroke after finding a lateral hazard.

"When Jeev made five birdies in a row I knew I had a fight on my hands," McDowell said. "Obviously it was very disappointing to finish like that.

"It's a wake-up call but it doesn't change my outlook. I still have to do the business tomorrow. Jeev is going to be very hard to shake off."

McDowell is chasing his third European Tour win, nearly four years after his 2004 Italian Open triumph and only needs a top-three finish to qualify for next week's WGC CA-Championship in Miami.

But Singh believes he has momentum on his side now.

"Today was one of those days when I felt I couldn't miss," said the Indian, who arrived here semi-concussed after crashing his golf buggy into a palm tree at last week's Malaysian Open.

"I had no idea I made five birdies in a row. I knew I'd made a few. I wasn't thinking about it. It was just the momentum."

Harrington chipped in at the 18th for a 68 which tied him for fifth place on 204 with Australian Kane Webber (65).

"It was nice to chip in but obviously I hoped to gain on the leader and not fall further behind Graeme," said Harrington. "No matter what I do tomorrow it's out of my hands which is a pity."

McGinley hailed the incredible standard on tour these days but confessed that he will have to play the round of his life to lift his fifth European Tour title.

"The standard on Tour is just unbelievably strong - it's incredible," said the Dubliner, who is chasing his first title since the 2005 Volvo Masters.

"The cuts are much lower than you think and the winning score is much lower than you think. With the standard now, it's just so difficult to win on Tour.

"As I said on Friday, if I'm going to win I'm going to have to play really well - I've played well but not really well and on Sunday I'm going to have to play unbelievably well.

"All I'm concerned about is me - if I play better, you never know what might happen."

Knightsbrook's Damien McGrane is tied for 19th on six-under par after a 70.

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 72)

198 Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 68 66 64, Graeme McDowell 68 64 66

203 Johan Edfors (Swe) 69 65 69

204 Padraig Harrington 71 65 68, Kane Webber (USA) 71 68 65

205 Anthony Kim (USA) 68 68 69, Ariel Canete (Arg) 70 68 67

206 Mikko Ilonen (Fin) 67 70 69, Thomas Bjorn (Den) 70 66 70, Oliver Wilson 70 69 67, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 68 70 68

207 Thaworn Wiratchant (Tha) 69 70 68, Paul McGinley 68 67 72

208 Phillip Archer 71 70 67, Terry Pilkadaris (Aus) 71 66 71, Hyung-sung Kim (Kor) 72 70 66

209 KJ Choi (Kor) 71 69 69, Hyung-tae Kim (Jpn) 69 66 74

210 Inn-choon Hwang (Kor) 68 69 73, Damien McGrane 71 69 70, Chris DiMarco (USA) 70 68 72, David Lynn 71 71 68, David Frost (Rsa) 69 71 70, Anthony Kang (USA) 70 71 69, Prayad Marksaeng (Tha) 68 71 71, Do-kyu Park (Kor) 71 72 67, Emanuele Canonica (Ita) 71 71 68, Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 68 72 70

211 Zane Scotland (Gbr) 74 69 68, Sang-moon Bae (Kor) 71 71 69, Wook-Soon Kang (Kor) 73 70 68, Maarten Lafeber (Ned) 71 70 70, S K Ho (Kor) 74 67 70, Adam Blyth (Aus) 69 72 70

212 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 72 71, Garry Houston 69 74 69, Wen-Tang Lin (Tai) 72 71 69, Jong Yul Suk (Kor) 71 70 71, Paul Broadhurst 70 72 70

213 Martin Erlandsson (Swe) 71 73 69, Yong-eun Yang (Kor) 73 70 70, Jose Manuel Lara (Spa) 72 71 70

214 Felipe Aguilar (Chi) 72 72 70, Tony Carolan (Aus) 67 75 72, Gary Simpson (Aus) 70 70 74, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 70 74, David Bransdon (Aus) 72 70 73, Joong Kyung Mo (Kor) 74 70 70, Sang-ki Kim (Kor) 70 74 70

215 Daniel Vancsik (Arg) 70 73 72, Marcus Both (Aus) 74 70 71, Carlos Rodiles (Spa) 69 71 75, Thomas Aiken (Rsa) 71 73 71, Mardan Mamat (Sin) 73 71 71

216 Ter-Chang Wang (Tpe) 71 73 72, Juvic Pagunsan (Phi) 70 73 73, David Griffiths 69 71 76, Thomas Levet (Fra) 71 73 72

217 Tom Whitehouse 70 70 77

218 Gaurav Ghei (Ind) 72 72 74, Prom Meesawat (Tha) 71 71 76, Tae-hyun Jun (Kor) 69 71 78, Gavin Flint (Aus) 72 72 74

219 Oliver Fisher 70 74 75

220 Frankie Minoza (Phi) 75 69 76, Kyung-Tae Kim (Kor) 74 70 76

222 Simon Griffiths 68 74 80