Westwood & McIlroy in Swiss hunt

Westwood hit a flawless third round at Crans-sur-Sierre

Lee Westwood joined Jamie Donaldson at the top of the European Masters leaderboard after impressive third rounds for the pair in Switzerland.

The Englishman hit seven birdies in a flawless round of 64 to move to 13 under par, while Wales' Jamie Donaldson carded a 65 to lead by a shot.

US Open champion Rory McIlroy is a shot further back after a 67 which included bogies on the 16th and 17th.

Denmark's Thomas Bjorn and England's Gary Boyd are on 11 under.

Donaldson, 35, is still to seal European Tour victory and he will face a tough test against Westwood and McIlroy in the final group on Sunday.

But last season he had nine top-10 finishes and is on the verge of breaking into the world's top 100.

The chance to finally break his duck holds no fear for the Cheshire-based golfer. "It will be awesome going up against two of the best players in the world at the moment," said Donaldson.

Westwood, who won the European Masters in 1999, said: "I'm finding a bit of form. I had two weeks off before this, and after the US PGA championship I played six holes which isn't the best preparation. But you need to take a break at some point in the year and recharge your batteries.

"It's always nice to play a round with no fives and no bogies, especially on this course because it can trip you up. I made a nice couple of putts and I'm just happy with the way the day went."

McIlroy made a fast start to the day but was pegged back late in his round, and he will be aiming to make amends to a play-off defeat at Crans-sur-Sierre three years ago.

The Northern Irishman said: "The bogies on 16 and 17 were quite disappointing but I'll just have to make it up on Sunday. It wasn't the greatest way to finish but I'm looking forward to making a fast start tomorrow and putting a bit of pressure on the boys.

"The way my game is I feel like there is a 61 or a 62 out there, it's just a case of holing the putts when you need to."

First-round leader Nick Dougherty, whose 63 set him up to make his first cut in 22 starts going back to last November, fell from one behind to 25th on six under with a second successive 72.

While joint halfway leader Simon Dyson slumped to a 74 and all the way to 34th on five under.