Tim Clark holed a birdie on the final hole of his third round to take a two-stroke advantage into the final day of the Crowne Plaza Invitational.
The South African began the day at Colonial Country Club one shot behind overnight leader Steve Stricker, but moved ahead of his playing partner after firing a four-under 66 to reach 17 under for the tournament.
Clark birdied two of his first three holes on the Fort Worth course to draw level with Stricker, who birdied the second, but trailed again after dropping his only shot of the day on the seventh.
But consecutive birdies on the 10th and 11th helped the South African to edge ahead before his fifth birdie of the day put him two shots ahead of Stricker, Steve Marino and Australian Jason Day.
Having been a runner-up to Phil Mickelson at Colonial last year, Clark is eyeing his maiden win on the PGA Tour.
"I had a great final round last year. I'm going to need that again," said Clark, who has been a runner-up on six occasions.
"I'm in a different position being in the last group. I just have to stay calm."
Marino fired eight birdies for a tournament-best 62 to join Day (65) and Stricker (69) in a three-way tie for second on 15 under.
Vijay Singh was alone in fifth on 13 under after carding a 69 with Justin Leonard (64) and Woody Austin (67) tied for sixth a further shot back.
Paul Casey is the leading British player after firing a four under 66 to join Sean O'Hair in a tie for eighth on 11 under while Ian Poulter (65) and Luke Donald (69) are in a five-way tie for 10th.
Collated third round scores & totals in the USPGA Tour Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, Colonial CC, Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America
(USA unless stated, par 70):
193 Tim Clark (Rsa) 63 64 66
195 Steve Stricker 63 63 69, Steve Marino 66 67 62, Jason Day (Aus) 65 65 65
197 Vijay Singh (Fij) 64 64 69
198 Justin Leonard 66 68 64, Woody Austin 63 68 67
199 Paul Casey (Eng) 66 67 66, Sean O'Hair 65 64 70
200 Kevin Na 66 68 66, Zach Johnson 69 67 64, Ted Purdy 69 65 66, Ian Poulter (Eng) 66 69 65, Luke Donald (Eng) 68 65 67
201 Jeff Overton 69 67 65, Lucas Glover 70 65 66, Kevin Sutherland 66 67 68
202 Tim Herron 71 65 66, Ryan Palmer 69 63 70, John Senden (Aus) 68 67 67, Harrison Frazar 67 69 66, Jason Bohn 69 65 68
203 Charlie Wi (Kor) 67 70 66, Tom Lehman 68 69 66, Matt Kuchar 70 68 65, James Driscoll 69 64 70, Stephen Ames (Can) 68 68 67
204 David Toms 67 72 65, Geoff Ogilvy (Aus) 70 67 67, Nick O'Hern (Aus) 69 69 66, Mark Wilson 67 71 66, Kevin Streelman 68 70 66, Hunter Mahan 69 67 68, Kenny Perry 64 72 68, Fredrik Jacobson (Swe) 68 70 66, Jim Furyk 68 69 67
205 Bob Estes 71 66 68, Anthony Kim 69 68 68, Charley Hoffman 73 67 65, Bart Bryant 70 68 67, Jason Dufner 69 71 65, Stewart Cink 71 66 68, James Nitties (Aus) 67 68 70
206 Rodney Pampling (Aus) 73 66 67, Tom Pernice Jnr. 69 67 70, Greg Owen (Eng) 68 69 69, J J Henry 71 68 67, George McNeill 68 70 68, Corey Pavin 71 69 66, Brandt Jobe 71 69 66, Scott Verplank 70 68 68, Rocco Mediate 67 70 69
207 Danny Lee (Nzl) 69 67 71, Brian Davis (Eng) 69 68 70, Derek Fathauer 68 69 70, Chris DiMarco 69 71 67, Matt Bettencourt 69 70 68, Tommy Armour III 67 72 68
208 Dudley Hart 74 66 68, John Rollins 70 67 71, Justin Rose (Eng) 69 69 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 68 71 69, Mike Weir (Can) 69 67 72, Carl Pettersson (Swe) 71 68 69, Heath Slocum 69 71 68
209 Ben Crane 71 68 70, Rory Sabbatini (Rsa) 71 69 69, Brian Gay 68 71 70, Bo Van Pelt 71 69 69
210 Michael Bradley 70 67 73, Richard S Johnson (Swe) 71 69 70, John Merrick 71 68 71, Ryuji Imada (Jpn) 69 68 73, Chez Reavie 72 68 70
211 Ken Duke 71 69 71
212 Aron Price (Aus) 67 72 73, Mark Brooks 71 69 72
213 Joe Ogilvie 67 73 73
214 Mark Calcavecchia 68 72 74
KELLY’S DRAMATIC VICTORY
CLARK JINXED?
Jason Taylor agrees to one-year, $1.1 million deal with Miami Dolphins
