Tom Kim has made enough birdies on a soft, vulnerable course to stay in front at the rain-delayed Travelers Championship, getting up-and-down for par on the last hole in near darkness.
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The South Korean youngster carded a five-under 65 to hold a one-shot lead over Scottie Scheffler and Akshay Bhatia.
Jason Day and Cam Davis led the Australian charge, ending the third round in a four-way tie for 41st with US pair Lee Hodges and Webb Simpson.
Day, in particular, had a pleasing day, registering seven birdies - and a bogey on the par-3 11th - to card a six-under 64. Davis shot 69.
The tone of this pitch-and-putt day at the TPC River Highlands was set long before thunderstorms halted play for nearly three hours.
Cameron Young shot 59, the 13th sub-60 round on the PGA Tour and the first in nearly four years.
And then the rain made it even softer, and the wind subsided late in the evening as Kim, Scheffler and Xander Schauffele raced to beat the darkness.
World No.1 Scheffler, coming off a rare pedestrian performance at the US Open, was slowed by a pair of soft bogeys and answered with four straight birdies.
"I was pretty frustrated after that bogey on 14, felt like I was putting myself out of the tournament," Scheffler said.
"So it was nice to bounce back and finish it the way I did."
Schauffele played bogey-free until the final hole when his three-foot par putt horseshoed around the cup and left him with a 64.
He was two shots back along with Sungjae Im, who made a birdie putt from some 40 feet on the final hole.
Kim, who turned 22 on Friday, is leading a large cast of All-Stars. He is at 18-under 192 going into the final round, with 10 players within five shots of the lead.
"It's a stacked leaderboard," Kim said.
"A five-, six-shot lead is not safe at all. I've got to go out tomorrow and do the same game plan and execute."
Tee times for Sunday have been moved forward because of more storms in the forecast, meaning the course isn't likely to get any tougher. Preferred lies were in effect for the second consecutive round.
"(It) feels like more than ever you're going to have to keep your head down," Schauffele said.
"It's kind of been my motto - 'stay in my lane' - for quite some time, and tomorrow it's going to hold pretty true.
"You can get on a run at any point on this golf course."
Australian Associated Press
