Rory McIlroy produced an escapology performance worthy of Houdini and fired a bogey-free 68 to keep alive his hopes of winning back his world number one ranking at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill.
The Holywood star got up and down seven times out of seven to take his scrambling figures for the week to 20 out of 24 (83.3 pc) and go into the final round tied for fifth on six-under, just three shots behind world number 46 Kurt Kitayama.
The American has won twice on the DP World Tour, but after finishing birdie-par-birdie for a 72 to retain the lead on nine-under, he has a veritable who's who of stars chasing him down as he seeks his first PGA Tour win.
Norway's Viktor Hovland shot a bogey-free 66 and world number two and defending champion Scottie Scheffler birdied five of his last seven holes for a 68 to trail Kitayama by just one stroke on eight-under.
England's Tyrrell Hatton, the 2020 champion, is just two behind on seven-under after a 66, with 2018 winner McIlroy lurking just three strokes behind in a tie for fifth with Harris English.
With world number one Jon Rahm following his opening 65 with a pair of 76s to slip to 44th on one-over, McIlroy can go back to world number one with his fourth win in his last ten starts, providing the Spaniard does not finish tied fifth.
"Yeah, it was good," McIlroy said after missing a chance from eight feet at the last. "I think any time you can go bogey-free on the weekend at Bay Hill, you're doing something right.
"A little frustrated I missed that opportunity at the last. But, all in all, played really well. I got myself right into the tournament, into the thick of things for tomorrow."
It was a frustrating day for the rest of the Irish as Pádraig Harrington, who was outside the top 10 and two under for his round playing the last, found water with his approach and made a double-bogey six to card a 72 that leaves him tied 31st on one-under.
Séamus Power shot 76 to slip to 69th on six-over alongside Shane Lowry, who made triple bogeys at the fourth and ninth en route to an 80 — his highest-ever round in the US.
McIlroy, who was two-over par after Thursday's opening round, has slowly inched his way up the leaderboard thanks to some improved iron play and his sensational scrambling.
"Limit the mistakes out here," he said of the key to scoring well at Bay Hill. "If you can hit fairways and greens and take advantage of the par-fives, that's basically what I did today, and then have a really good short game.
"I up-and-downed it really well this week, chipped it well, bunker play has been good. Holed out well for the most part. So just do sort of everything well and then when one aspect of your game isn't firing on all cylinders, you have to rely on other things."
McIlroy has not only kept a three-putt off his card this week, but he's also ranked first for scrambling and yesterday tied up seven times out of seven with the pick of them two sand saves at the ninth and 14th.
While Hovland felt it was a very European test, McIlroy thought it had a Major feel.
"I see it more like a US Open," said McIlroy, who credited his improved play on Friday and Saturday to correcting his alignment. "I think that's how it feels with the thick rough and the firm greens and just the real sort of tricky conditions. Feels a bit more like that to me than anything in Europe."
With young gun Pierceson Coody shooting 66 to join Justin Thomas (72) and Jordan Spieth (74) on five-under and Max Homa and Cameron Young rounding out the top 10, McIlroy feels the stacked leaderboard justifies the new designated events, which are designed to bring the best players together more often.
"That's what we're trying to do here," he said. "It's great. You have Scottie Scheffler and Rahmbo in Phoenix. You had Rahmbo and Max Homa in LA. You've got a ton of big names up here. It's great to see the big names playing well and playing well all at the same golf courses in the same tournaments.
"I think, for a player, for us to get that thrill of getting up, going up against each other like week after week, that's really cool."
