Ian Poulter will take a one-shot lead into the final round of the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town as he attempts to land a second title in three weeks.
The 42-year-old Englishman claimed the Houston Open in dramatic style a fortnight ago to earn the final invite to Augusta National for last week’s Masters, where he finished 44th.
A flawless four-under-par 67 took Poulter to 13 under in South Carolina, one ahead of Korea’s Si Woo Kim and American Luke List as the Ryder Cup star aims to become the first English winner of the event since Nick Faldo in 1984.
Graeme McDowell – the lone Irishman in the field – fired a round of 72 to sit well back at one over par.
Poulter’s recent upturn in form has come about after reverting to the putter with which he helped Europe pull off the ‘Miracle of Medinah’ at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
After struggling on the greens en route to a missed cut at the Valspar Championship, Poulter revealed he had given away his putter before making the switch.
“After missing the cut in Tampa, I was in disarray, so I gave it (putter) to a kid at the back of the green,” he said in an interview broadcast on Sky Sports Golf.
“I was thinking ‘what shall I use’? — I’ve got an office full of old putters and I was looking at it thinking ‘surely I can remember how good this thing was and how good I was’.
“I stood over it, I opened my shoulders Friday morning in Houston and I saw the line of the putts a lot easier than I was. Holed a 20 footer, holed a 30 footer, and it’s like ‘OK, we’re ready to go now’.”
After a tap-in birdie at the long fifth, Poulter converted from 14 feet at the sixth and made further back-to-back gains from close range at the 12th and 13th.
Asked about his prospects on Sunday, Poulter added: “Tomorrow’s about patience; it’s going to be drizzly, it’s going to be difficult.
“Trust myself, trust my instincts, trust my ability. I know how to get it done but I’ve got to relearn it — it’s about hitting the shots under pressure and delivering when you have to deliver. Hole the putts at the right time.”
List also carded a four-under 67, while Players Championship winner Kim signed for a 68.
Chinese Taipei’s Cheng-tsung Pan and American Billy Horschel share fourth on 11 under.
Collated Collated third round scores in the USPGA Tour RBC Heritage Harbour Town GL, Hilton Head, South Carolina, United States of America
200 Ian Poulter (Eng) 69 64 67
201 Luke List 70 64 67, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 68 65 68
202 Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 70 65 67, Billy Horschel 66 69 67
203 Chesson Hadley 66 68 69, Kevin Kisner 69 68 66
204 Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 64 70 70
205 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 66 70, Matt Kuchar 66 70 69, Ryan Moore 69 69 67
206 Satoshi Kodaira (Jpn) 73 63 70, Bill Haas 69 66 71, Andrew Landry 69 68 69, Lucas Glover 74 65 67, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 73 67 66, Martin Laird (Sco) 67 69 70, Brandt Snedeker 70 64 72, Webb Simpson 69 68 69
207 Charley Hoffman 72 69 66, Xander Schauffele 68 68 71, Scott Piercy 71 65 71, Brian Harman 70 68 69, Patrick Cantlay 67 72 68, Kevin Streelman 70 70 67, Jonas Blixt (Swe) 67 73 67, Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 72 66 69, Whee Kim (Kor) 68 68 71, Ted Potter, Jr. 72 66 69, Bryson DeChambeau 68 64 75, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 72 68 67
208 Tyrone Van Aswegen (Rsa) 73 69 66, Brice Garnett 68 68 72, Charles Howell III 68 67 73, Tom Hoge 70 67 71
209 Beau Hossler 70 69 70, Rod Pampling (Aus) 72 70 67, Matt Every 73 66 70, John Huh 66 74 69, Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 69 71 69
210 Bud Cauley 71 68 71, Nick Watney 68 72 70, Chris Kirk 70 70 70, Stewart Cink 70 70 70, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 68 71 71, Dustin Johnson 69 69 72, Cameron Smith (Aus) 68 68 74, J.J. Henry 72 69 69, Michael Thompson 74 65 71, Ollie Schniederjans 73 69 68, Jonathan Byrd 71 71 68, Russell Knox (Sco) 70 72 68
211 Peter Malnati 68 70 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 73 69 69, Zach Johnson 70 70 71, Austin Cook 71 68 72, Doc Redman (a) 71 71 69, Wesley Bryan 69 71 71, Ryan Armour 71 71 69, Kyung Ju Choi (Kor) 69 70 72
212 Brian Stuard 69 68 75, Aaron Baddeley (Aus) 73 69 70, Ryan Palmer 73 65 74, Kevin Tway 71 71 70, William McGirt 71 70 71
213 Jim Furyk 70 70 73, Scott Stallings 74 68 71, Brian Gay 71 71 71
214 Graeme McDowell (NIrl) 73 69 72, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 69 73 72, Dominic Bozzelli 70 72 72, Harris English 67 73 74
215 Ben Martin 74 68 73, Keith Mitchell 71 71 73, David Lingmerth (Swe) 71 71 73
216 Davis Love III 73 69 74
218 Michael Kim 76 66 76
