English pair John Bickerton and Ross McGowan stormed to the top of a congested leaderboard after the third round of the Johnnie Walker Classic on Saturday. Bickerton birdied six of the last 12 two holes in Perth to card a six-under-par 66 while McGowan made five birdies on the back nine for a 65 to head into Sunday's final round tied for the lead at 14-under 202. The two Britons finished two strokes clear of four players, Chile's Felipe Aguilar (68), Frenchman Raphael Jacquelin (66), Australia's Terry Pilkadaris (68) and New Zealand amateur Danny Lee (69). Five players, including first-round leader Robert-Jan Derksen of the Netherlands, were a shot back at 11-under and among 20 players ending the day within five shots of Bickerton and McGowan. Joint overnight leader, Ireland's Damien McGrane, slipped back to joint 12th after a 72, while American Anthony Kang dropped to 46th after a 77, ending his streak of five straight rounds in the 60s that culminated in his victory at last week's Malaysian Open. Mickelson surrenders lead In California, Phil Mickelson paid the penalty for some wayward driving in the second round of the Northern Trust Open on Friday as fellow American Scott McCarron edged two strokes clear of the pack. Left-hander Mickelson, the defending champion, hit only five fairways out of 14 on his way to a one-over-par 72 at Riviera Country Club, sliding back into a six-way tie for fourth place. Having surged a stroke in front with a blistering 63 in the opening round and then two ahead after eagling the first, Mickelson piled up four bogeys and a birdie for a seven-under total of 135. That left him three shots behind McCarron, who rolled in an eight-foot birdie putt at the par-four last for a 68. Americans Steve Stricker (66) and Tommy Armour III (67) were tied for second at eight under after taking advantage of ideal scoring conditions in the morning. Mickelson ended the day level with Australian Geoff Ogilvy (67), South Korean K.J. Choi (69), American Pat Perez (66), South African Rory Sabbatini (67) and Britain's Luke Donald (69). McCarron, a stroke off the pace overnight, stayed in touch with the lead after a topsy-turvy front nine of one-under 34. The cut fell at one-under 141 with 75 players qualifying for the weekend. Among those missing out were Irish world number three Padraig Harrington, fourth-ranked Fijian Vijay Singh and Japanese teenage sensation Ryo Ishikawa.
