Saturday January 30, 2010, 04:14 PM

England's Paul Casey staked his claim for a first Qatar Masters title after stroking a fluent six-under-par 66 in the third round at the Doha Golf Club on Saturday.

The World No. 9 shot seven birdies and a bogey in brilliant sunshine to vault into joint lead with Welshman Bradley Dredge on 10-under-par 206 after being five shots off the pace at the end of the second round on Friday.

European number one Lee Westwood was in second spot on nine-under-par 207, while overnight leader Brett Rumford shot a one-over-par 73 to slip down the leaderboard to be in joint third with Swede Robert Karlsson with 208.

Casey, one of the hottest players in Europe had been mystified by his lack of success in Qatar where he missed the halfway cut on all his three previous appearances.

"I like the course in Qatar but for some reason I've not done well here at all, but this time I am very determined to not just make the cut but to have a crack at the title itself," he had told journalists before the tournament.

And sure enough he appears to be living up to his word, producing three sub-par rounds of 71, 69 and 66 that gave him a solid platform to go for the kill on Sunday.

Casey had three birdies on the front nine and four on the back during which he dropped a shot on the par-4 15th, but that was enough to give him a share of the lead along with Dredge.

"I think it's my best round around this golf course in four years of trying, so I can't say anything bad about it," said Casey after his third round.

"The front nine was really good, very solid. Lots of opportunities. And continued that early into the back nine.

"The only slip-up on 15, poor tee shot, which I contemplated trying to hit the golf ball over the water, but I felt I couldn't get it on the green, so I didn't think it was worth the risk to try it. I laid up, knocked it on the green, missed the par putt."

Casey was also happy with his fitness.

"I am 95 per cent fit, which is almost 100, isn't it?

"The only reason it's 95 per cent is I don't feel I've got complete range of motion back yet, but I haven't held back on any shot. I've been hitting it as hard as I've needed to, and yeah, it's just every day has been better, which has been exciting."

Dredge shot a 70 on Saturday, his card ruined by a double bogey on the fifth and a bogey on the 13th .

"Yeah, looking forward to it (the last round)," said Dredge. "Haven't been in this sort of situation for a while. Obviously Ryder Cup aspirations and all that, and I need to be winning tournaments. That's what I need to do."

Westwood, who missed the cut in Abu Dhabi last week after being forced to play with a new set of clubs following new rulings on grooves, was in a decent position to top the leaderboard on Saturday but was denied by a double bogey on the eighth hole and a bogey on the 15th.

"I actually felt pretty good today. I was delighted with the way I hit it all day," said Westwood

"It's a golf course that suits me down to the ground really. You get rough like this, you would say it's a good driver's golf course, if you have a driver that you like.

"So I would expect it to suit me, this place. It's firm greens, you can get close to the flags, good clubs for people who are mentally strong, thinking man's golf courses."

Defending champion Alvaro Quiros of Spain and Oliver Wilson of England were also challenging the leaders with a total of seven-under-par 209.

© 2010 AFP/sid