American Michael Kim sparked into life late on his back nine to build a five-stroke lead after the third round of a marathon day at the John Deere Classic on Saturday.
Celebrating his 25th birthday, Kim finished his third round with four straight birdies to sign for a seven-under-par 64 that put him on an imposing 22-under for the tournament.
Séamus Power also finished his third round in style, making five birdies on the back nine to sign for an impressive 65 - following consecutive 68s on Thursday and Friday.
Power now sits at 12 under par for the tournament and in a share of 12th place, and while leader Kim is a speck in the distance he can look to secure a top-10 finish or better in his fnial round.
Kim endured a long day at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois, arriving at the course early to finish his second round before taking a nap during a two-and-a-half hour weather delay, then returning to the course to add three birdies and a bogey.
Play was again suspended with Kim on the 14th hole of his third round but he returned to complete a stellar day and remain on course for a first PGA Tour victory.
“I’m pretty used to rain delays from playing on the (second tier) Web.com Tour,” Kim told reporters.
“This year has been probably a record of so little rain delays. I’m comfortable going in and going out - I felt good. I can just relax in the morning, take it easy. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Fellow American Bronson Burgoon is his closest challenger at 17-under after completing a five-under-par 66 that included an eagle on the par-five second hole and three straight birdies to close his round.
“I don’t know how I finished the way I did,” said Burgoon, who had to complete the last three holes of his second round early on Saturday morning.
“I warmed up four times today. It was a grind out there. Obviously, Michael is playing really well. I was playing pretty good myself. So, I’ll go get some rest and looking forward to tomorrow.”
Australian Matt Jones (16-under) and American Harold Varner III (15-under) also recorded rounds of 66 to stay in contention.
Jones, 38, has one PGA Tour victory, the 2014 Shell Houston Open, while the 27-year-old Varner is flirting with a first ever PGA Tour win for the second consecutive week after finishing tied for fifth at Greenbrier.
Argentinean Andres Romero shot a 64 and is one of two players at 14-under.
Collated third round scores, John Deere Classic (USA unless stated, par 71):
(a) denotes amateurs
191 Michael Kim 63 64 64
196 Bronson Burgoon 68 62 66
197 Matt Jones (Aus) 68 63 66
198 Harold Varner III 67 65 66
199 Sam Ryder 66 66 67, Andres Romero (Arg) 64 71 64
200 Joel Dahmen 64 71 65, Denny McCarthy 65 69 66, Robert Garrigus 68 64 68, David Hearn (Can) 66 64 70, Johnson Wagner 64 66 70
201 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 65 66 70, Keith Mitchell 67 68 66, Steve Wheatcroft 62 68 71, Tyler Duncan 66 72 63, Seamus Power (Irl) 68 68 65
202 Chad Campbell 66 70 66, Scott Brown 65 72 65, John Huh 70 63 69, Parker McLachlin 66 66 70
203 Chris Stroud 68 68 67, Cody Gribble 72 66 65, Fabian Gomez (Arg) 66 70 67, Kevin Streelman 66 71 66, Whee Kim (Kor) 65 68 70, Derek Fathauer 68 67 68, J.J. Henry 68 66 69, Nick Taylor (Can) 64 71 68, Jason Bohn 69 66 68
204 Richy Werenski 68 69 67, Chris Kirk 66 72 66, Austin Cook 69 69 66, Matt Atkins 66 71 67
205 Vaughn Taylor 67 70 68, John Senden (Aus) 72 66 67, Patton Kizzire 70 69 66, Cheng-Tsung Pan (Tai) 68 71 66, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 72 65 68
206 Zach Johnson 69 70 67, John Merrick 66 70 70, Andrew Landry 71 68 67, Sam Saunders 72 67 67, Hunter Mahan 70 67 69, Ricky Barnes 70 69 67, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 69 69 68, Patrick Rodgers 66 69 71, Blayne Barber 69 69 68, Dominic Bozzelli 70 65 71
207 JT Poston 69 70 68, Steve Stricker 70 66 71, Troy Merritt 72 67 68, Lanto Griffin 66 72 69, Tommy Gainey 70 68 69, Corey Conners (Can) 66 72 69
208 Nick Watney 68 69 71, Ryan Blaum 67 69 72, Nick Hardy 66 73 69, Dylan Meyer 68 68 72, Kelly Kraft 66 71 71, Brett Stegmaier 67 71 70, Stuart Appleby (Aus) 67 70 71
209 Kris Blanks 71 67 71, Benjamin Silverman (Can) 72 67 70, Hudson Swafford 68 69 72, Conrad Shindler 67 72 70, Nicholas Lindheim 68 70 71, Mark Wilson 71 67 71, Tom Lovelady 70 69 70, Arjun Atwal (Ind) 69 70 70, Kevin Tway 69 69 71, Ryan Moore 70 69 70
210 George McNeill 69 69 72, Martin Flores 72 67 71, Bill Haas 69 70 71, Chesson Hadley 69 67 74, David Lingmerth (Swe) 71 67 72
211 Sean McCarty 68 71 72, Ryan Palmer 67 70 74
212 Andrew Putnam 69 69 74
213 D.J. Trahan 68 70 75
214 Brian Stuard 69 70 75
216 Brendon de Jonge (Zim) 68 68 80
