GLEANEAGLES, August 24, 2013 (AFP) - Fleetwood looked set to lead on his own after six birdies and an eagle in his first 16 holes, but bogeyed the 18th to card a five-under-par 67.
At 16 under par he shares top spot with Gonzalez, with Sweden's Fredrik Andersson Hed a further shot behind after a 66 on the Centenary Course which will host next year's Ryder Cup.
"The last hole does not really mean anything," Fleetwood said. "It's a tough hole and the way I hit my tee shot I did well to make six.
"If I hadn't I would have had to go back 100 yards and could have taken anything up to a 10. The way I played the first 17 holes was fantastic.
"I have been up there a bit this year and faltered a bit, so it's nice that I have kept my good golf going for three rounds."
Fleetwood was the youngest winner of the Challenge Tour in 2011, but only kept his card at the end of his rookie season on the European Tour thanks to a first top 10 of the year in the final event in South Africa.
"I came off the Challenge Tour feeling I was the best golfer in the world, it felt very easy and I could not do much wrong. Last year I was still working hard but maybe not working on the right things," Fleetwood said.
"The more you play poorly out here, the easier it is to get into a downward spiral. It was horrible."
Gonzalez took a one-shot lead into the third round after back-to-back 65s but was only able to manage a 70 on Saturday, despite recovering from a bogey on the first with birdies at the second, fourth and ninth.
The 42-year-old's last European Tour win came in 2009 but his mind has understandably been elsewhere recently after his mother, father and father-in-law all passed away in the space of the last two years.
"The last two years have been very difficult personally," said Gonzalez. "If I win I would like to dedicate it to my mother and father, that's my target this week."
Scotland's Stephen Gallacher is just three off the lead alongside Austria's Bernd Wiesberger after charging through the field with a superb 64, despite continuing to struggle with a "freak" injury which threatened his participation.
Gallacher injured his back when washing his car on Monday and has been receiving treatment all week, but still stormed home in 30.
Collated third round scores in the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles on Saturday (GBR and IRL unless stated, par 72):
200 - Ricardo Gonzalez (ARG) 65 65 70, Tommy Fleetwood 68 65 67
201 - Fredrik Andersson Hed (SWE) 68 67 66
203 - Stephen Gallacher 71 68 64, Bernd Wiesberger (AUT) 65 66 72
204 - Brett Rumford (AUS) 66 69 69, Ross Fisher 66 72 66, Scott Henry 72 65 67
205 - Shane Lowry 68 70 67, Paul Waring 75 63 67, Thorbjorn Olesen (DEN) 71 68
66, Tom Lewis 67 71 67, Oliver Fisher 66 70 69, Alvaro Quiros (ESP) 70 67 68
206 - Emiliano Grillo (ARG) 71 66 69, Richie Ramsay 69 68 69, David Drysdale 71
67 68, Matthew Baldwin 70 70 66, Mark Foster 66 67 73, Gregory Havret (FRA) 67 69 70
207 - Craig Lee 69 67 71, John Parry 71 66 70, Anders Hansen (DEN) 70 69 68, David Horsey 70 68 69, Jorge Campillo (ESP) 69 71 67, Mikko Korhonen (FIN) 71 69 67, Morten Orum Madsen (DEN) 70 70 67, Christopher Doak 69 69 69
208 - Gary Boyd 71 69 68, Paul Lawrie 70 67 71, Gareth Maybin 68 70 70, Richard
Finch 73 67 68, David Howell 71 70 67, Thongchai Jaidee (THA) 66 69 73,
Alexander Levy (FRA) 70 71 67
209 - Francesco Molinari (ITA) 69 67 73, Espen Kofstad (NOR) 71 70 68, Joakim
Lagergren (SWE) 68 71 70, Danny Willett 72 69 68, Matthew Southgate 72 68 69, Simon Wakefield 70 71 68, Brooks Koepka (USA) 68 66 75, Gregory Bourdy (FRA) 68 71 70
210 - Mark Tullo (CHI) 69 71 70, Lasse Jensen (DEN) 70 71 69, Matthew Nixon 68 71
71, Simon Dyson 72 67 71, Anthony Snobeck (FRA) 72 69 69, Joel Sjoholm (SWE) 68
71 71, Eddie Pepperell 72 66 72, Simon Thornton 74 67 69, Paul McGinley 68 71 71, Michael Hoey 68 72 70
211 - Darren Fichardt (RSA) 69 70 72, Gary Stal (FRA) 69 71 71, James Morrison 72 69 70, Gareth Wright 69 72 70, Marcus Both (AUS) 69 70 72, Eduardo De La Riva (ESP) 68 72 71, Ignacio Garrido (ESP) 66 73 72, Rafael Cabrera Bello (ESP) 71 69 71
212 - Ricardo Santos (POR) 69 72 71, Thomas Levet (FRA) 71 70 71
213 - Martin Wiegele (AUT) 69 70 74, Andy Sullivan 67 73 73, Michael Jonzon (SWE) 71 70 72, Peter Lawrie 71 67 75
214 - Mikael Lundberg (SWE) 70 69 75, Soren Hansen (DEN) 69 71 74
215 - Neil Fenwick 75 66 74, Raphael Jacquelin (FRA) 69 71 75
217 - Jose-Maria Olazabal (ESP) 73 68 76