Brendon Todd moved into prime position for a hat-trick of PGA Tour victories as his remarkable return to form continued at The RSM Classic.
An eight-under-par 62 took Todd to 18 under at Sea Island Golf Club, enough for a two-shot 54-hole lead over former US Open champion Webb Simpson and Colombia's Sebastian Munoz.
Todd was outside the top 1,000 on the Official Golf World Ranking earlier in the year but now has a chance to become the first player since Tiger Woods in 2006 to win three regular PGA Tour events in a row.
The 34-year-old has claimed victory in the Bermuda Championship and Mayakoba Golf Classic on his last two starts to leap to 83rd in the world.
He birdied his first two holes on Saturday before adding further gains on the fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth in an outward 29.
And although Todd was unable to maintain such a frenetic pace, he made a tap-in birdie on the 11th and holed from nine feet at the 17th to move clear of the chasing pack.
