Scottie Scheffler made an early birdie as he began his bid to fight back into US PGA Championship contention and chase down leader Alex Smalley.
Smalley, without so much as a PGA Tour win to his name, took a grip of the championship on Saturday evening as he birdied four of the last six holes to pull two shots clear of the pack at Aronimink Golf Club.
But, with an extraordinary 21 players within four shots of his six-under-par score including a host of major champions, it was a question of who could make a charge.
Ryder Cup stars Jon Rahm and Ludvig Aberg were among those two back, while Rory McIlroy stood alongside fellow major champions Xander Schauffele and Patrick Reed at three under.
Smalley’s lead evoked Philadelphia’s Rocky-style underdog spirit, with a string of heavyweights out to land early blows.
American Kurt Kitayama had showed what was possible as he carded the best round of the week with a seven-under-par 63, the joint-lowest final round in major history, to set the clubhouse lead at three under.
World number one Scheffler got an early chance to put the pressure on from five shots back, teeing off two-and-a-half hours before Smalley at 12.05pm local time.
He needed to start fast and got moving up the leaderboard with a 20-foot putt to make a birdie at the second.
A superb approach to within five feet at the third should have yielded another birdie but a poor putt lipped out.
World number three Cameron Young was unable to make progress as he reached the ninth where he started the round, at even par.
McIlroy begins his quest for back-to-back majors at 2.05pm (7.05pm BST), half an hour before Smalley starts his final round.
