Shane Lowry will start Sunday's final round at the Truist Championship from a share of the lead after carding a third-round 67.
The Offaly man and Sepp Straka, who shot a 66, stand three shots above the pack on 14 under par after playing stellar golf on Saturday at the Philadelphia Cricket Club's Wissahickon Course.
Lowry tied the lead with a birdie on 17 after Straka had rolled in a 24-and-a-half foot birdie putt on the same hole to briefly grab the outright lead.
Keith Mitchell led after each of the first two rounds but poor putting knocked him off his perch. He shot a one-over 71 and fell to 11 under, tied for third with Justin Thomas (66).
Japan's Hideki Matsuyama went out early and shot the round of the day, a seven-under 63, to get to 10 under and fifth place.
Lowry birdied his first two holes to move in front of Mitchell, who had three-putt bogeys at three and four before rebounding with birdies at five and six.
Straka crept up the standings and took his first lead when he birdied the ninth. Lowry responded with birdies at nine and 10, the latter a 17-footer.
Mitchell gave himself a great look at the par-3 14th by landing his tee shot five feet from the pin. He proceeded to miss both his birdie and his par putts and carded his fifth bogey of the round.
Rory McIlroy was off to a hot start when he birdied three in a row from four to six, the latter on an improbable 54-foot putt. The Holywood man gave back all of those strokes with a double bogey and bogey on the next two holes.
McIlroy, the defending champion who is playing in his first non-team event since winning the Masters, carded a 69 and is part of a brigade tied for sixth at eight under par. Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Canadian Nick Taylor and South Korea's Sungjae Im all shot 67.
Reflecting on his round, Lowry said: "I'm driving the ball pretty straight, not very far but it's going on the fairway, and once I get myself on the fairway I can be dangerous."
On his chances of winning on Sunday, he added: "If I can hole a few putts you never know.
"This is a tough game and a tough tour and it's hard to win out here. You just have to keep putting yourself in position week after week and do your best. I'm going to give it my best.
"I'm playing a good friend of mine in Sepp, my Ryder Cup partner. Hopefully, one of us can get the job done."
