Rory McIlroy carded a third round five-under-par 67 to lie two shots off leader Henrik Stenson at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
McIlroy picked up two shots on the front nine and after dropping a shot at the 11th, the Ulsterman eagled the 12th before picking up two shots in final three holes to move into contention.
His standout moment was an eagle on the par-five 12th, which followed hot on the heels of a bogey on 11. McIlroy finished his round strongly with birdies on 16 and 18 to leave himself well positioned heading into Sunday.
Justin Rose, who finished fifth at last week's Valspar Championship, starts the final day three behind Stenson after a round of 67 that included six birdies and a bogey.
Stenson shot a third-round 71 which moved him to 12 under par, one shot ahead of Bryson DeChambeau.
Graeme McDowell was the only other Irish contender to make the weekend and he sits on six under par for the tournament after carding an impressive 69.
Both Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry had earlier failed to make the cut.
Tiger Woods, meanwhile, had six birdies and three bogeys to bounce back from his 72 from day two and keep himself just about in contention at Bay Hill on seven under overall.
Woods, who was level with compatriot Grayson Murray in the clubhouse, bogeyed the second before three birdies in four holes from the third put him back on track.
Another bogey and birdie followed before he finished his round birdie-bogey-birdie. Woods sits five shots behind the current leaders at seven under par.
