Dustin Johnson made eight birdies to shoot a 5-under-par 65 and grab a one-shot lead after the third round of the PGA Championship on Saturday.
Jason Day finished with a decent even-par 70, falling into a 6-way tie for 7th to 12th places and 3 shots adrift of Johnson.
Johnson had four birdies on the front nine then birdied three of his final five holes to reach nine-under 201 at the TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
It was the eighth straight round in the 60s at the PGA Championship for Johnson, who nearly chased down Brooks Koepka in the final round at Bethpage Black last year before losing by two shots.
Americans Scottie Scheffler (65) and Cameron Champ (67) are tied for second at eight-under 202.
Two-time defending camp Koepka shot a 1-under 69. Koepka, who is trying to become the first to win three straight majors since the 1950s, looked unflappable until a bogey on the 13th hole which began his back nine struggles.
A stretch of three straight bogeys moved Koepka down the leaderboard but he recovered with birdies on No. 16 and 18. He is at seven-under 203, two shots adrift of Johnson.
Third-round leader Li Haotong, of China, shot a 73 and like Koepka he struggled on the par-four No. in 13 with a double bogey. He made bogey two more times before 18 and finished at 5-under 205.
Li is trying to become the first player from China to win a major championship.
The first PGA championship on the US west coast since 1988 is being played without spectators because of the coronavirus restrictions.
Agence France-Presse
