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Mickelson leads the way at Loch Lomond

14/07/2007

Phil Mickelson is closing in on a first win on the European Tour as a three-under 68 earned him a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Barclays Scottish Open.

The American left-hander seems to be finding form at just the right time as he cruised to the front of the field with an assured round that took him past Gregory Havret and Jose-Manuel Lara.

Birdies at three, seven and nine took Mickelson to the turn in 33 and he consolidated that early form by keeping par on the homeward half of his round and reached the clubhouse on 12-under.

Havret remains his closest challenger after the Frenchman lodged a solid 70 to move onto 11-under but will probably need to improve if he is to overhaul the leader.

South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen made a late charge to gatecrash the upper reaches of the leaderboard with a round of 64.

Having only just scraped inside the cut by one shot, Oosthuizen reeled off five birdies in the last seven holes to take himself to within four shots of the lead at eight-under.

Britain's Simon Webster is in third on nine-under and could yet push on in a bid for a home win.

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