He shot 4-under-par 68 in Saturday's third round and at 11-under 205, was joined at the top of the leaderboard by Alvaro Quiros (67), Miguel Angel Jimenez (68) and Thongchai Jaidee (69).
"Any time I'm in contention, that gets me buzzing and excited," said Westwood, who was 1-over after six holes in his third round Saturday. "I'll play aggressively (and) won't do anything stupid, but I'll shoot at the flags that need to be shot at."
Defending champion Rory McIlroy is 9-under 207, alone in fifth place, two shots off the lead, while Edoardo Molinari (70) and Marcus Fraser (70) are 8-under 208, tied for sixth heading into Sunday's fourth and final round.
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