Jon Rahm is in position to claim his third win of 2023 as he takes a three-shot lead into the final round of the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.
The Spaniard - in blistering form after wins at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and the American Express in January - carded a blemish free round of 65, crowned by a birdie at the last to sit at 15-under, three strokes ahead of Max Homa.
There was little to separate Homa and Rahm until the closing stretch, the American carding successive bogeys on 16 and 17 and then being forced to hole a testing par putt on 18 after watching Rahm drain a long birdie putt.
Rahm, the 2021 US Open champion, has the chance to win his 10th PGA Tour event, a tally which would surpass that of his compatriot Seve Ballesteros. A win would also see Rahm eclipse Scottie Scheffler at the top of the world rankings.
The American overtook Rory McIlroy for the top spot with victory at the WM Phoenix Open last week. McIlroy fell out of contention on Saturday with a two-over 73.
Rahm, who finished third at the Phoenix Open last week, said he is taking nothing for granted, despite the three-stroke lead.
"Somebody's going to come out tomorrow and somebody's going to shoot a round of 4, 5, 6, 7 under," he said. "It happens every single tournament we play in,right?
"So I have to be aware that somebody's going to make a run and I'm going to have to shoot a 60s round for sure to give myself a chance to win as well. Just aware that I need to keep doing what I've been doing until now."
A stroke further back behind Homa is Keith Mitchell, who carded another 69 to sit on 11-under. Patrick Cantlay is in fourth on 10-under, with 2019 US Open champion Gary Woodland one stroke further back on nine under.
Well down the field at the start of the day, Seamus Power now leads the Irish contingent after a superb four-under par round of 67 lifted him to -5 overall.
The Waterford man, who carded a 71 and 70 in his opening rounds, would have gone better were it not for trouble off the tee at 12 en route to a triple bogey seven.
Aside from this violent wobble, Power was in scintillating form otherwise, rattling in eight birdies to jump into tied-15th alongside Scottie Scheffler and Danny Willett.
However, it was a day of regression for the other Irish contenders, in particular McIlroy who carded a two-over par round of 73 to fall back to four under. Three bogeys at 2, 11 and 13 sent him in the wrong direction, with his solitary birdie arriving at the par-5 17th.
Lowry remained where he is on the same four-under mark after posting a 71, three birdies cancelled out by three bogeys, with a dropped coming stroke at the last.
Only one stroke further back is Tiger Woods, who sneaked inside the cut line and shot a fine 67 on Saturday, decorated by a tap-in eagle at the 1st - his 10th hole.
It was almost exactly two years ago, the day after the Genesis, that Woods sustained serious injuries to his right leg in a single-car crash.
This is his first PGA Tour appearance since the Open Championship last July. While he said he still needs to work on his putting, he generally was content after shooting a 74 on Friday.
"Today was better. I felt like I made some nice adjustments with my putting and that was the thing that held me back yesterday," he said.
"I've driven it well the last three days, my iron play has been good. And the firm conditions I like. That's kind of right up my alley with iron play. Just wish I could have putted a little bit better yesterday. I made a few adjustments today and some of the putts went in."
