Johnson takes control at WGC-HSBC Champions

United States golfer Dustin Johnson remained in the driver's seat despite carding two double bogeys to sign for a third round six-under-par 66 at the WGC-HSBC Champions here Saturday.

The American Ryder Cup star compiled a three-day total of 18-under-par 198 to take a three-shot lead over defending champion Ian Poulter of England who surged into contention with a 63.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell trailed Poulter by a single shot after a spectacular 64 saw him take third place at the $8.5 million showpiece.

It was an enthralling battle for supremacy at the top with Johnson and Poulter going head-to-head at the Sheshan International Golf Club.

Poulter, looking to become only the second player after World No.1 Tiger Woods to successfully defend a World Golf Championships title, had charged up the leaderboard with five birdies in a row from the third and another on the ninth hole. The Englishman birdied the 10th but had his efforts matched by Johnson who was equally impressive.

The seven-time PGA Tour winner fired five birdies in a row from the par-four fifth but found trouble on the 10th hole where his pitch to the green failed to get to the top of a steep slope and rolled back to his feet.

Johnson's third attempt smashed into the pin and he eventually limited the damage to a double-bogey six by holing from 12 feet. There was further drama at the par-five 14th when Poulter holed an eagle from 20 feet to reduce Johnson's lead to one.

However, the American responded with birdies on the 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th before seeing his lead reduced to three with another double bogey on the 18th.

Leaderboard:

198 - Dustin JOHNSON (USA) 69-63-66

201 - Ian POULTER (ENG) 71-67-63

202 - Graeme MCDOWELL (NIR) 69-69-64

204 - Graham DELAET (CAN) 71-68-65, Justin ROSE (ENG) 68-71-65, Rory MCILROY (NIR) 65-72-67

206 - Martin KAYMER (GER) 70-74-62, Boo WEEKLEY (USA) 70-67-69, Bubba WATSON (USA) 68-69-69

207 - Jamie DONALDSON (WAL) 67-74-66, Keegan BRADLEY (USA) 71-68-68, Sergio GARCIA (ESP) 70-68-69, Tommy FLEETWOOD (ENG) 68-70-69

208 - Gonzalo FDEZ-CASTANO (ESP) 67-71-70

209 - Scott HEND (AUS) 69-74-66, Jordan SPIETH (USA) 68-71-70, Ernie ELS (RSA) 69-69-71

210 - Bo VAN PELT (USA) 77-67-66, Gregory BOURDY (FRA) 75-68-67, Louis OOSTHUIZEN (RSA) 70-70-70, Jin JEONG (KOR) 70-69-71

211 - Paul CASEY (ENG) 69-73-69, Francesco MOLINARI (ITA) 72-69-70, Luke DONALD (ENG) 70-71-70, Jason DUFNER (USA) 73-67-71, Phil MICKELSON (USA) 71-68-72, LIANG Wen-chong (CHN) 72-67-72

212 - Lee WESTWOOD (ENG) 71-73-68, Thongchai JAIDEE (THA) 76-68-68, Matteo MANASSERO (ITA) 72-70-70, Mark BROWN (NZL) 72-68-72, Billy HORSCHEL (USA) 71-69-72

213 - David LYNN (ENG) 74-70-69, HUANG WenYi (CHN) 70-74-69, Ryan MOORE (USA) 70-74-69, Peter HANSON (SWE) 70-73-70, Bill HAAS (USA) 72-72-69, Jaco VAN ZYL (RSA) 72-73-68, Scott PIERCY (USA) 72-73-68, Hiroyuki FUJITA (JPN) 75-70-68, Mikko ILONEN (FIN) 72-69-72

214 - Rickie FOWLER (USA) 74-70-70, Michael THOMPSON (USA) 74-72-68

215 - Brian GAY (USA) 71-72-72, Kevin STREELMAN (USA) 70-73-72, Ken DUKE (USA) 70-72-73, Chris WOOD (ENG) 71-71-73, Masahiro KAWAMURA (JPN) 73-72-70, Jimmy WALKER (USA) 73-73-69, Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 69-71-75, Kiradech APHIBARNRAT (THA) 69-78-68, Branden GRACE (RSA) 77-71-67

216 - Derek ERNST (USA) 71-72-73, Thomas BJORN (DEN) 74-72-70, D.A. POINTS (USA) 72-74-70, John MERRICK (USA) 72-75-69, Nick WATNEY (USA) 75-74-67

217 - LI Hao Tong (CHN) 72-71-74, Peter UIHLEIN (USA) 71-73-73, Brandt SNEDEKER (USA) 73-74-70, Daniel POPOVIC (AUS) 77-71-69, Henrik STENSON (SWE) 74-76-67

218 - Michael HENDRY (NZL) 72-73-73, Stephen GALLACHER (SCO) 73-73-72, BAEK Seuk-hyun (KOR) 81-68-69

219 - Darren FICHARDT (RSA) 70-74-75, Jonas BLIXT (SWE) 70-75-74, WU Ashun (CHN) 74-75-70

220 - David HOWELL (ENG) 72-75-73

221 - Richard STERNE (RSA) 74-73-74, Miguel Angel JIMENEZ (ESP) 75-76-70, Ryo ISHIKAWA (JPN) 81-72-68

222 - Raphael JACQUELIN (FRA) 81-70-71

224 - HU Mu (CHN) 76-75-73

226 - George COETZEE (RSA) 75-77-74

231 - Brett RUMFORD (AUS) 75-77-79

240 - HUANG Ming-Jie (CHN) 83-77-80