Rory McIlroy catapulted himself into contention at the Tour Championship with a seven-under-par 63, although Viktor Hovland remains some way out in front of the Northern Irishman at East Lake.
McIlroy, who began the day seven shots adrift of joint halfway leaders Hovland and Ryan Gerard, dropped further back early in his third round by three-putting at the 191-yard par-three second.
But it was a rare mistake on the greens from the six-time major winner, who birdied four of his next five holes and picked up another couple of shots on the 10th and 12th, either side of a bogey.
Three successive birdies from the 15th briefly left McIlroy in a share of the lead at 10-under-par, but he dribbled into the rough on the final hole to dash hopes of ending his round with a flourish.
McIlroy is five shots drift of Hovland, who shot 65, and four behind Gerard, who carded 66, although the back-to-back Masters champion was happy with how he fared after a modest first couple of days.
“I think the difference today was I just putted a bit better,” said McIlroy, who was in a share of 23rd in the 29-strong field at the start of the day and now sits in a tie for seventh.
“I still felt like I played OK the last couple of days, just wasn’t getting as much out of my game as I wanted to.
“I pieced it together today and ended up obviously with a better score.
“It’s the last round of the PGA Tour season. I’ve still got a lot of golf left this year, but it will be nice to go out and give it a really good run tomorrow to finish this season over in the States.”
Four birdies in his last six holes left Hovland in front as the Norwegian bids to land the 10million US dollars (£7.4m) winner’s prize on Sunday evening.
“I mean, 65 out there, especially with that finish, super happy with that,” Hovland said.
“It’s been just one of those weeks where I’ve been able to put it together every single day for three days.”
Scottie Scheffler is one of four players who are three shots behind Hovland, with the world number one carding a bogey-free 66 on Saturday.
English pair Justin Rose and Matt Fitzpatrick both faded after one-under 69 rounds, leaving them on eight-under-par, seven shots behind Hovland.
