DOHA, Qatar -- Henrik Stenson retained his one-stroke lead at the Qatar Masters on Saturday, shooting a 1-under 71 in the third round.

Stenson, at 11-under 205 heading into the final round, leads both Paul Broadhurst (67) and Niclas Fasth (68) by a stroke. Richard Finch (71) and Ricardo Gonzalez (72) are tied for fourth, two strokes behind Stenson.

Defending champion Ernie Els improved to 5 under overall after shooting a 69 Saturday at the Doha Golf Club. Els had five birdies and two bogeys after back-to-back 71s in the opening two rounds.

"I didn't putt well at all today. I had many chances but didn't take them," Els said. "However, I feel I am hitting the ball nicely. My stroke feels goods, but I was a little bit off. I would say today's outing was very encouraging and I must get into the middle of 60s to have a chance of winning (on Sunday)."

On Friday, the South African equaled Berhnard Langer's European Tour record by making his 69th consecutive cut.

Vijay Singh had two birdies and three bogeys to finish with a 73 - 1 over overall

Stenson could have taken a bigger lead into Sunday's fourth round, but the Swede bogeyed the last hole.

"I am not impressed with the way I finished," Stenson said. "It wasn't a bad day overall, but I could have had a nice cushion going into the last day. I say that because the bogey (on the last hole) didn't help matters."

Broadhurst was surprised to be contention heading into the final round.

"It was a tough day. It was quite windy, but I felt I was pretty solid today," Broadhurst said. "My bogey on 17 was just a poor effort, no excuses."

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