US PGA champion Collin Morikawa will take a two-shot lead into the final round in Florida as the American goes in search of a first World Golf Championships title at The Concession.
The 24-year-old carded a 67 to sit at 15 under at the WGC-Workday Championship and he could have been out of sight after a run of seven birdies in eight holes from the fifth handed him a five-shot lead.
Bogeys on the par-five 13th and 17th brought him back to the pack, however, and he will have a host of the game’s biggest names breathing down his neck in round four.
Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka and 2014 FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel were at 13 under, a shot clear of 2012 US Open champion Webb Simpson and two ahead of former world number one Rory McIlroy and 2018 Masters winner Patrick Reed.
Morikawa and Horschel were playing together but they were worlds apart on the leaderboard when the former made five birdies in a row to lead by three at the turn and then made two more on the 11th and 12th to lead by five.
Horschel had birdied the seventh and eighth but was back level for the day after consecutive bogeys from the 13th left him six shots off the lead.
A gain on the 16th was followed by a remarkable eagle from just 10 feet on the next and with Morikawa’s late stumble, Horschel too was in the mix for a first WGC win.
Morikawa told europeantour.com: “Everything still feels great about my game. It was a struggle coming down the last few holes but I still feel like I’m driving it well, still feel like I’m hitting my iron shots so, come tomorrow, I’ll get some good rest and we’ll be right there.
“Anything can happen. I know all the guys behind me, they’re very capable of going low, if not having a start like I had today. That’s why I’ve got to be ready from hole one and be ready all the way through the round tomorrow.”
Koepka recovered from a bogey-bogey start with four birdies, while Simpson carded a 69.
McIlroy signed for an eventful 66, the highlight of which came when he eagled the 13th to cancel out a double-bogey on the second.
“It’s OK,” he said. “It’s nowhere near what I feel like I can play. I feel like I’m sort of piecing it around. I’m getting it around, put it that way.
“I don’t feel like I’m flushing it by any means but it’s a work in progress and I’m seeing some good signs, which I guess is encouraging.”
Shane Lowry however slumped to a 76 on Saturday, leaving him well off the pace.
Reed carded a 69 to sit a shot ahead of a group including England’s Matthew Fitzpatrick.
Elsewhere, world number four Nelly Korda led by one stroke and Annika Sorenstam slid to last place on the penultimate day of the Gainbridge LPGA tournament in Orlando, Florida.
Korda, 22, mixed five birdies with one bogey to finish with a four-under 68, while 21-year-old Thail Patty Tavatanakit shot an impressive seven birdies including four in the last five holes, for a six-under 66 that had her one stroke back overall at 12-under.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who led through the first two days, double-bogeyed on the 12th to finish the day with an even 72 and be three shots behind Korda along with American Angel Yin and Jin Young Ko of South Korea.
Former world number one Sorenstam, in her first appearance on the LPGA tour in more than 12 years and playing because the tournament was at her home course, played poorly around the green to finish 22 strokes off the pace.
Leona Maguire of Ireland was seven shots behind Korda, England’s Georgia Hall was two more strokes back while her compatriots Bronte Law and Charley Hull were both another two shots back.
Collated third round scores & totals in the World Golf Championships Workday Championship (USA unless stated, Par 72):
201 Collin Morikawa 70 64 67
203 Billy Horschel 67 67 69, Brooks Koepka 67 66 70
204 Webb Simpson 66 69 69
205 Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 69 70 66, Patrick Reed 68 68 69
206 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 66 69 71, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 71 69 66, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 72 66 68, Scottie Scheffler 69 70 67
207 Abraham Ancer (Mex) 71 66 70, Tony Finau 68 67 72, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 69 68 70
208 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 67 74 67, Jason Kokrak 70 69 69
209 Jason Day (Aus) 71 69 69, Justin Thomas 73 66 70, Will Zalatoris 72 69 68
210 Max Homa 73 70 67
211 Sung Jae Im (Kor) 68 74 69, Min-Woo Lee (Aus) 74 71 66, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 69 72 70, Kevin Na 73 69 69, Aaron Rai (Eng) 72 70 69, Cameron Smith (Aus) 68 66 77, Gary Woodland 71 69 71
212 Brendon Todd 74 71 67
213 Daniel Berger 73 71 69, Bryson DeChambeau 77 64 72, Thomas Detry (Bel) 70 73 70, Lanto Griffin 70 72 71, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 70 73 70, Yuki Inamori (Jpn) 73 68 72, Jason Scrivener (Aus) 75 68 70
214 Christiaan Bezuidenhout (Rsa) 71 72 71, Cameron Champ 72 70 72, Chan Kim 71 71 72, Matt Kuchar 73 72 69, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 69 72 73, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 73 72 69, Trevor Simsby 74 70 70
215 Tommy Fleetwood (Eng) 75 72 68, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 73 73 69, Dustin Johnson 77 69 69
216 Kevin Kisner 67 69 80, Marc Leishman (Aus) 72 70 74, Jon Rahm (Spa) 68 76 72, Xander Schauffele 71 72 73, Adam Scott (Aus) 72 72 72
218 Harris English 78 69 71, Rasmus Hoejgaard (Den) 74 73 71, Shane Lowry (Irl) 72 70 76, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 71 75 72
219 Victor Perez (Fra) 69 75 75, Bubba Watson 77 72 70, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 71 74 74
220 Rafael Cabrera (Spa) 74 73 73, David Lipsky 70 76 74, Wade Ormsby (Aus) 68 74 78, Justin Rose (Eng) 73 71 76, Sami Valimaki (Fin) 72 76 72, Lee Westwood (Eng) 74 69 77
221 Ryan Palmer 71 72 78
223 Laurie Canter (Eng) 72 75 76, Brad Kennedy (Aus) 81 73 69, J. C. Ritchie (Rsa) 78 73 72, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 76 75 72
224 Robert MacIntyre (Sco) 74 72 78, Daniel van Tonder (Rsa) 76 73 75
228 Lucas Herbert (Aus) 77 77 74, Andy Sullivan (Eng) 78 77 73
