Perth, Australia (My Sportsbook) - Ross McGowan fired a seven-under 65 and John Bickerton had a six-under 66 on Saturday to earn a share of the lead after three rounds of the Johnnie Walker Classic.

The Englishmen were tied at 14-under-par 202 for a two-stroke advantage over France's Raphael Jacquelin (66), Chile's Felipe Aguilar (68), Australia's Terry Pilkadaris (68) and amateur Danny Lee (69) of New Zealand.

The top of the leaderboard was a logjam for much of the round, with five players tied for the lead at one point late in the day. But it was McGowan and Bickerton -- both with bogey-free rounds -- who came out on top.

And it was McGowan, the 26-year-old former English Amateur champion, who had the furthest to go.

Beginning the day three shots behind overnight co-leaders Damien McGrane and Anthony Kang, McGowan started slowly with five consecutive pars. His first birdie came at No. 6, then he made back-to-back birdies at the ninth and 10th.

McGowan went on a tear after that, collecting back-to-back birdies at the 13th and 14th -- joining the five-way jogjam -- and again at the 17th and 18th to take the clubhouse lead.

Sunday, he will be playing for his first European Tour win.

"Played nicely from the word go, really," said McGowan. "The first few holes I hit it close and didn't make the putts, but then I got used to the speed of the greens and played nicely on the back nine.

"I hit a lot more fairways than I have been doing this week, and that's the key around here. If you hit the fairways, you've got shots at the greens and I feel like I'm putting nicely. When a few of those drop, it turns into a nice score."

Bickerton, 39, is considerably more experienced than McGowan, having won three previous times on the European Tour, including last season's Alfred Dunhill Championship.

He was two shots off the lead overnight, but also started off slowly, making six straight pars to begin the round. Bickerton then collected back-to-back birdies at the seventh and eight, and again at the 10th and 11th, to take his place among the five co-leaders.

Bickerton made a birdie at the 14th -- joining McGowan in a two-way tie at the top -- then finished with a birdie at the 18th for his share of the overnight lead.

"It's nice to produce a good score when you need to," said Bickerton, who is looking to bounce back after missing four straight cuts. "I'm in a good position for tomorrow and we'll see what happens."

Korea's Sang-Moon Bae (65), Australia's Michael Sim (67), Robert-Jan Derksen (69) of the Netherlands, Japan's Hiroyuki Fujita (70) and Spain's Ignacio Garrido (70) were tied for seventh place at 11-under 205.