Graeme McDowell and his partner Matt Wallace slid down the leaderboard after the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Saturday.
Playing a best-ball format, McDowell and Wallace carded a respectable four-under 68 but the bar was high on a day of low scoring.
They are in a tie for 25th on a total score of 204 (12-under), with the leaders Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel on 197 (19-under).
Oosthuizen and Schwartzel shot a brilliant nine-under 63 to surge into the lead.
The South African pair had kept themselves in contention with a 63 in the four balls and 71 in the foursomes going into the weekend, and carded another 63 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead.
They reached the turn in three-under 33, and had two runs of three-straight birdies coming back to sit 19-under in Louisiana.
At their heels are Australian pair Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith who also signed for a 63, while overnight joint leaders Tony Finau and Cameron Champ are also on 18-under after a round of 67.
Norwegian pair Viktor Hovland and Kris Ventura, who also had the joint lead going into Saturday, went round in 68 and have a share of fourth.
The two-man event will adopt a fourball-style format for Sunday's final round.
Leaderboard thru 3 rounds @Zurich_Classic:
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 24, 2021
1. Oosthuizen/Schwartzel -19
T2. Leishman/Smith -18
T2. Champ/Finau
T4. Watson/Scheffler -17
T4. Hovland/Ventura
T6. Pieters/Lewis -16
T6. Duncan/Schenk
T6. Bradley/Steele
T9. 9 teams tied -15
